An Indian techie was among the 12 victims of the horrific plane crash that took place on Sunday morning in Missouri. In the official list released by the Bates CountyCoroner's Office on Tuesday afternoon, Sai Karthik Varma Datla was identified as a 24-year-old man from India. The victims, including experienced skydivers, were flying in a 2010 Pacific Aerospace 750XL, which crashed shortly after taking off from Butler Memorial Airport just before 11:30 a.m. Sunday. The plane turned around for an unknown reason before losing control, crashing into a field on airport property and catching fire, killing everyone on board.
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Some family members of the victims witnessed the deadly crash. Records show that the aircraft — with tail number N221BN — was registered to a Tennessee-based company known as SkyHi Aero LLC. The aircraft was also once used by a Chattanooga skydiving company before being operated by Skydive Kansas City, which rents space at the Butler airport. Skydive Kansas City, which coordinated the flight Sunday, released a statement following the crash:
“This is a devastating loss for everyone connected to Skydive Kansas City and for the wider skydiving community. Our deepest sympathies are with the families, friends, and loved ones of all who were lost.
According to the Bates County Department of Emergency Management, the aircraft, a Pacific Aerospace P750XL, was carrying nine experienced skydivers, two tandem jumpers and a pilot. Sunday's crash was considered one of the deadliest skydiving incidents in the US in decades.
Full list of victims
Kurt John Roy- 69-year-old from Windber, Pennsylvania
Michael R Shanahan- 54-year-old from Kansas City, Missouri
David Hershberger- 54-year-old from Liberty, Missouri.
Sai Karthik Varma Datla- 24-year-old from India
Matthew Swope- 39-year-old from Independence, Missouri
Dustin McKinney- 44-year-old from Stilwell, Kansas
Jennifer L Sharp- 55-year-old from Grand Junction, Colorado
Blake Thacker- 25-year-old from Olathe, Kansas
Marcus Miller- 30-year-old from Lawrence, Kansas
Nicholas Nash- 40-year-old from Harrisonville, Missouri
William Fischer- 23-year-old from De Soto, Kansas
Dane Cordes- 26-year-old from Richmond, Missouri
Sai Karthik Varma Datla was from Andhra Pradesh, India. He came to the US for higher education and completed his studies at the University of Central Missouri. He was working at AdventHealth and went for a skydiving experience on Sunday.
