Investigators are seeking answers after skydiving death

CUSHING — Federal investigators and local authorities are trying to determine how a Kansas woman was separated from her parachute harness Sunday, causing her to fall to her death.

The body of Sheralynn Neff, 26, of Newton, Kan., was found Monday morning five miles from her parachute. Neff made a Sunday afternoon jump with the Oklahoma Skydiving Center, and her fully intact parachute was found hanging in a tree shortly after she went missing. Search crews from multiple agencies worked through the night to find Neff, Cushing Police Chief Tully Folden said.

“The only part that actually occurred in Cushing is when she got on the airplane,” Folden said. “The rest of it occurred in Lincoln County, and the parachute itself was

found in rural Payne County. We’ve got several different organizations that are having to work on this (investigation) together.”

Folden said he believed Neff went skydiving the weekend before, but he was unable to confirm reports Neff had jumped several other times the day of her death or what may have caused the accident.

“We’re going to do the best we can to figure out what happened,” he said.

The Federal Aviation Administration oversees aspects of the sport and relies, in part, on the self-regulation of skydivers, according to the United States Parachute Association. “The FAA does this by certificating pilots, mechanics, air traffic controllers and parachute riggers and by requiring approval data for aircraft and parachutes,” according to the association’s website.

“Our oversight of skydiving schools focuses primarily on the safety of the aircraft and the qualifications of the pilots who carry the divers aloft,” spokesman Lynn Lunsford said. “We also require that parachutes be packed by properly trained people.”

The FAA has been assisting with the investigation into Neff’s death, but Lunsford was unable to provide many details Tuesday. Lunsford said Neff’s parachute rig was found intact, but there were “no obvious answers” as to how or why she became separated from the rig.

Family members for Neff could not be reached Tuesday.

The owner of the Oklahoma Skydiving Center, Andy Beck, declined to comment on Neff’s death, citing the ongoing investigation. Beck also declined to answer questions about his business or how long he has been its owner.

In 2003, a plane operated by the company crashed, killing the pilot and injuring two parachutists. A National Transportation Safety Board ruling released in 2006 cited the pilot’s “failure to maintain airspeed which resulted in an inadvertent stall/ spin” as the cause of the accident. The company, at the time under different ownership, filed for bankruptcy in 2008. According to court documents, the company had no insurance at the time of the 2003 accident and was unable to cover the losses from the crash.

Loren Coburn, a Norman resident who has made more than 140 jumps with the Oklahoma Skydiving Center, said he has been going to the company for the last few years and always felt safe. Coburn, whose teenage son has made most of those jumps with him, said the company always has stressed safety, and he was unsure how Neff could have come completely loose from her harness.

“It is almost impossible if that rig is on correctly, and it’s double-checked before it goes on the plane; it’s impossible to get out of the entire rig if it’s put on properly,” he said.

“(Beck) would never put someone in the sky that was not ready to be in the sky,” Coburn said. “The reason my son is just over 18 and has over 140 jumps is because I felt he would be safe there. With the training and everything that goes on there and the safety checks, double checks, triple checks. I have always been confident with him going there.”

“I’ll go back as soon as they open their doors, there’s no doubt,” he said.