9 Killed in Skydiving Plane Crash

DHC-2 Beaver crashed near runway in Sweden
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jul 9, 2021 4:38 AM CDT
9 Killed in Skydiving Plane Crash
Emergency services at the scene of the small aircraft crash at Orebro Airport in Sweden, Thursday, July 8 2021.   (Jeppe Gustafsson/TT News Agency via AP)

A small plane carrying skydivers crashed outside the Swedish city of Orebro on Thursday night, killing all nine people on board, police said. The dead included the pilot and eight passengers. The victims were members of a local skydiving club, according to Orebro County Governor Maria Larsson. Spokesperson Carl-Johan Linde of the Swedish Maritime Administration, which oversees air traffic, told broadcaster SVT the crash must have occurred "in connection" with the plane's takeoff. The plane burst into flames upon impact on what appeared to be an open field. "There were no lives to save," said local fire chief Per-Ove Staberyd, who coordinated the work of firefighters and other first responders, per the AP.

Police received word of the crash shortly before 7:30pm local time and quickly knew it was "a very serious incident," deputy regional police chief Niclas Hallgren said Friday. He said that investigating the accident would be "a difficult job. It will take its time." Hallgren declined to provide details about the victims or speculate why the plane had crashed. The Swedish Accident Investigation Authority immediately dispatched a team to the crash site outside Orebro, which is located 102 miles west of Stockholm. The Dagens Nyheter newspaper identified the plane as a single-engine, propeller-driven De Havilland DHC-2 Beaver.

(More Sweden stories.)

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