Homendy \u2013 then a board member \u2013 is now chair<\/a> of the NTSB. But when it comes to how skydiving flights are regulated by the Federal Aviation Administration, very little has changed in the seven years between then and the crash of a single-engine plane<\/a> carrying 12 people over the weekend, killing all on board shortly after takeoff.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cPaying passengers should be able to count on an airworthy plane, an adequately trained pilot, a safe operator and adequate federal oversight of those operations,\u201d Homendy said.\n <\/p>\n
\n Sunday\u2019s accident in Butler, Missouri, was the deadliest crash of a skydiving plane since the twin-engine aircraft went down<\/a> in Mokuleia, according to<\/a> the United States Parachute Association, which licenses and rates<\/a> skydiving instructors as well as serving as a lobbying group<\/a> for the sport.\n <\/p>\n \n The NTSB typically issues a preliminary report about its investigation within 30 days. A final report could take up to two years.\n <\/p>\n \n In the 2019 crash, the pilot and 10 passengers died after the plane rolled in midair and went down shortly after takeoff, with no radar or radio contact to air traffic control and starting takeoff near the middle of the runway instead of using the entire length available.\n <\/p>\n \n The probable cause of the crash \u201cwas the pilot\u2019s aggressive takeoff maneuver, which resulted in an accelerated stall and subsequent loss of control at an altitude that was too low for recovery,\u201d according to a report<\/a> from the NTSB.\n <\/p>\n \n Their investigation raised serious questions about the pilot\u2019s preparation, finding he had received specialized flight instruction with the company organizing the jump, Oahu Parachute Center, for only one hour over a 2-day period prior to the accident.\n <\/p>\n \n A former pilot with the center told investigators, \u201cThe company\u2019s only direction for training was to teach new pilots how to start the engines, taxi the airplane, take off, fly the jump run, and land the airplane, after which the new pilots would be \u2018good to go.\u2019\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cThey go up, they go down. They go up, they go down. They get as many jumps as the weather and daylight permit.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cSometimes it\u2019s 12 to 15 in a day,\u201d said attorney Gary Robb, whose law firm Robb and Robb specializes in aviation accidents.\n <\/p>\n \n The NTSB also raised concerns about failing to use the full length of the runway in what is called a short field takeoff. Investigators suggested the pilot may have felt the need to get back in the air quickly because of time constraints for popular \u201csunset flights.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cThe pilot might have perceived pressure to take off quickly so that he could return to the airport in time for the last scheduled flight (and the third sunset flight) of the day,\u201d the accident report said.\n <\/p>\n \n The Hawaii Department of Transportation said the center was not properly licensed by the state to operate skydiving activities, and the state shut the business down<\/a> just days after the crash.\n <\/p>\n \n After the crash, the NTSB asked the FAA to take stronger steps with inspectors to identify flight instructors with poor records of passing students, but the FAA declined<\/a>, saying the recommendations were \u201cunnecessary.\u201d The NTSB characterized it as an \u201cunacceptable response.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n Skydiving planes are regulated under a section of FAA rules known as Part 91. The section mostly applies to noncommercial flights that do not carry passengers or cargo for money, but skydiving flights are given an exception. Companies conducting air jumps face more regulations than private pilots flying a typical plane, but those requirements have more to do with the proper handling of skydiving equipment rather than flying the plane itself.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cIt\u2019s not the danger inherent to skydiving,\u201d said Robb, the attorney who represented victims of a fatal 2006 skydiving plane crash<\/a> in Sullivan, Missouri, about 200 miles east of where Sunday\u2019s crash happened. \u201cSkydiving operations, in terms of the quality of the aircraft and the piloting, has been under scrutiny because they\u2019re subject to the most lax regulations of the Federal Aviation Administration.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n After a special investigation<\/a> into skydiving safety concerns, the NTSB made a formal recommendation to the FAA in 2008 that Part 91 regulations were not good enough for parachuting operations.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cThey do not ensure that parachute jump operations pilots are proficient in the specific aircraft in which they fly passengers, and they do not adequately address the unique considerations for performing parachute operations flights,\u201d the board wrote to the FAA.\n <\/p>\n \n The administration denied the request, saying accident rates for skydiving planes are lower than those for other types of private flights, a point the United States Parachute Association has emphasized<\/a> repeatedly in the years since then, lobbying against stricter rules.\n <\/p>\n \n At a Monday news conference, NTSB Vice Chairman Michael Graham spoke about the report and a separate report on revenue passenger-carrying operations, including skydiving, conducted in 2021. He said the \u201cbiggest thing\u201d investigators flagged was to treat skydiving operations \u201cjust a little bit differently.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cWhen you jump on an airliner, you expect a certain amount of safety,\u201d Graham told CNN. \u201c\u2026 Any passenger-paying operation should be afforded the same safety as that, and so what we\u2019re looking for is the same airworthiness coverage on (skydiving operations), operational guidance and regulations.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cIt\u2019s always frustrating when we see things that maybe the FAA hasn\u2019t acted on with some of our recommendations, and then we continue to see accidents in those arenas,\u201d he said.\n <\/p>\n \n The United States Parachute Association says<\/a> the number of fatalities from skydiving has been on a slow decline since the 1970s, with the average number of annual fatalities dropping from more than 40 in that decade to 20.7 in the 2010s, with most of them being people who were hurt in dives. \n Jeff Guzzetti is a former NTSB investigator and former director of the accident investigation division for the FAA. He said some of the recommendations the NTSB has given the FAA for Part 91 operators could still be in the process of being \u201cworked on.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cIt takes a long time for the FAA to work through the bureaucracy and justify new rules that could cause businesses to go out of business,\u201d said Guzzetti, who now is president of his own aviation consultancy. \u201cThe FAA is trying to balance its use of its resources with aviation safety and these small skydiving operations, as well as local air tour operations and historical flight operations \u2026 they do not have to meet the same rigorous FAA rules as air charters or airlines.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n He said while such accidents draw more attention to the problems with Part 91 operators, investigators may need to deem FAA oversight as a probable cause in the crash to initiate changes. He said he is not sure whether FAA oversight was a factor in the Missouri incident.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cIt\u2019s a balancing act for the FAA,\u201d Guzzetti said. \u201cThe NTSB is all about safety, but the FAA has to consider the proliferation of aviation operations and their right to have a business and to operate, and rulemaking requires justification, and sometimes it\u2019s very difficult for the FAA to justify to lawmakers why they need to impart regulation.\u201d\n <\/p>\n Fewer maintenance inspections are required<\/p>\n \n In addition to pilot error in the Hawaii crash in 2019, the NTSB also cited a \u201ctwisted left wing\u201d from a previous accident<\/a> involving the same aircraft, which was not properly repaired. It \u201clikely caused the left wing to stall before the right wing and precipitated the airplane\u2019s roll to the left,\u201d the agency said.\n <\/p>\n \n With fewer inspections required for skydiving planes than most commercial aviation, Robb argues the temptation is great for operators to use substandard equipment or make shoddy repairs.\n <\/p>\n ![\"In](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/ap20302840681072.jpg\")
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Except for the 2019 accident in Hawaii, this is the first year of this century with double-digit fatalities resulting from a skydiving plane crash, the association says.\n <\/p>\n![\"Emergency](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/ap26165711187153.jpg\")
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