Twelve people were killed Sunday in a skydiving plane crash shortly after takeoff from Butler Memorial Airport, located about an hour south of Kansas City, Missouri. The victims included those aboard the aircraft, while family members witnessed the tragedy from the ground.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has launched an investigation to determine the cause of the accident, but officials have cautioned that it may take a year or longer to complete a full report. The agency plans to release preliminary findings within the coming weeks.

Historical data indicates that poor maintenance and weak regulatory oversight often contribute to accidents in the skydiving industry. The NTSB has previously cited insufficient supervision as a factor that allows mechanical or procedural issues to go unnoticed.

This crash follows a similar incident near the same airport two years ago. In that event, the plane also suffered a critical failure after takeoff, but all occupants survived by deploying their parachutes. Investigators later determined that the emergency parachute deployment handle had become entangled with the aircraft’s horizontal stabilizer, which led to the accident.

Authorities and safety experts will be closely monitoring the current investigation to identify whether comparable factors played a role in Sunday’s crash and to develop recommendations aimed at preventing future tragedies in the skydiving community.