Plane carrying skydivers crashes in US state of Tennessee

WASHINGTON: A plane carrying a group of skydivers crashed in Tennessee on Sunday. 

There were 20 people on board. Some were injured and taken to hospital. The cause of the crash is still being looked into by officials.

The Tennessee Highway Patrol said on X that its troopers were assisting police “at the scene of a plane crash on Old Shelbyville Road” in the central Coffee County.

“Some have been airlifted to nearby hospitals. This is an active scene,” it said, adding that more updates would follow.

Pictures on social media showed a small, white plane with its nose buried into the grass and its tail broken off behind it.

The Federal Aviation Administration said the plane was a de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter, and that it “crashed shortly after departing Tullahoma Regional Airport in Tennessee around 12:45 pm local time (1745 GMT) on Sunday.”

“Twenty people were on board. The FAA is investigating.”

Local media reported that the crashed plane was used for skydiving expeditions.