Revered skydiving instructor killed in MO crash. ‘Taking piano lessons from Beethoven’
One of the nation’s leading female skydivers, a revered instructor examiner in the sport, is believed to have been on the plane that crashed Sunday in Butler, Missouri, killing 12 people.
Authorities have not released names of those killed yet, but social media posts from friends and family of Jen Sharp — including her mother — say she was among them. Before national investigators even got to Bates County, word was spreading inside the skydiving world about her loss, and it hasn’t let up, said Greg Upper, a close friend of Sharp’s who spoke to the instructor on Saturday.
“I’ve been getting text messages and phone calls from all over the country,” said Upper, a retired skydiving tandem instructor examiner from North Carolina who first met Sharp in 2009. “And they’re like, ‘Have you heard about Jen Sharp?’ It wasn’t, ‘Have you heard about the plane crash?’”
“She was so pivotal to the sport.”
According to Sharp’s resume online, she’s Director of Technology at the United States Parachute Association, and webmaster and examiner at Xcelskydiving, offering USPA Instructional Rating Courses throughout the U.S.
Known as a giant in the sport, she took her first skydiving jump in 1989 when she was 18. Six year after that first and second jump — both on the same November day when she was a freshman in college — she opened Skydive Kansas in Osage City and ran that business from 1995 to 2017, her resume said.
Over the years, she became known across the country, Upper said, drawing people to the Sunflower State just to learn from her. She loved to “create instructors,” he said.
“If you wanted to become a coach, there are coach examiners all over the world, but people would seek Jen out,” said Upper. “It’s like she just had this little drop zone in Kansas, but everybody wanted to be taught by Jen Sharp.
“It would be like taking piano lessons from Beethoven. It was that big of a deal.”
Plane crash in Butler, Missouri
The plane crash happened soon after takeoff at the Butler Memorial Airport and was reported about 11:27 a.m. Sunday. The airport is about an hour’s drive south of Kansas City.
The low-wing, single-engine turboprop plane was not able to make it to full power, according to officials with the Bates County Emergency Management Agency. It was turning left when it stalled near Interstate 49 Business — a local road that runs between Interstate 49 and the airport.
The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration were in Butler Monday investigating the crash.
It isn’t clear how many of the 11 passengers were instructors, though at least several on board were highly experienced skydivers according to social media posts identifying others who were on the plane.
“I/we as a skydive family lost some good friends and family today,” one man from Salina, Kansas wrote. “Prayers to all that this event has impacted.”
In addition to Sharp, the names of crash victims identified through tributes by family members, friends and others on social media so far include Marcus Miller, Matthew Cole Swope, Michael Shanahan, Dustin McKinney, Dane Cordes, Nick Nash, William Fischer, Blake Thacker and David Hershberger.
Family members were gathering near the airport in the hours after the crash waiting to learn more information.
Sharp’s mother posted on Facebook Sunday evening.
“This is the hardest post I’ve ever written,” she wrote. “My daughter, Jen Sharp, was killed in a plane crash this morning. You may have seen in the news today that a plane crashed near Kansas City. All 11 skydivers and the pilot were killed.
“I’m heart broken.”
The USPA released a statement Monday about Sharp, who the association said was “a vital cornerstone of our national headquarters and broader skydiving family for nine years.”
“Her unwavering commitment to advancing the sport, supporting our membership, and strengthening the organization was second to none,” the association said. “She spent her career ensuring that our community stayed connected, safe, and forward-looking.”
Albert Berchtold, USPA executive director, said in the statement that Sharp was “a remarkable force whose passion for the skies was matched only by her dedication to the people in our sport.”
“Her loss leaves an unfillable void in our office, our community and our hearts,” Berchtold said. “We are incredibly grateful for the years of laughter, innovation and friendship we shared with her.”
Earning a ‘Jen Sharp’ rating
Sharp didn’t just like skydiving, Upper said, “it was her life.”
And teaching is what she loved.
“She didn’t just make skydiving instructors, she made exceptional instructors,” Upper wrote on Facebook about his friend. “If you earned a ‘Jen Sharp’ rating, everyone knew you were a solid instructor because she made you earn it.
“I could speak for months on the impact her life had on skydiving and what her death is doing to skydivers all over the world who knew her.”
What made Sharp stand out, Upper said, is that she was thorough.
“You had to demonstrate certain flying skills, you had to demonstrate certain ground prep training skills,” Upper said. “You had to demonstrate debriefing skills.
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“It wasn’t just a matter of you’re taking a baby skydiver and going up and doing a jump with them. Jen saw to it that if you’re going to be an instructor, you too will now be a teacher.”
She achieved so much in her career.
On her resume, under “Interesting Highlights,” Sharp wrote that she “jumped into Coors Field baseball stadium in downtown Denver dressed as the Queen of England.”
Another highlight? Part of the Everest Skydive team, as a photographer and the first female tandem instructor in Nepal 2014. Also on her resume is this:
“I have been fortunate to have amazing opportunities in my professional career, yet my most-cherished role has been as a mom, to two wonderful human beings,” she wrote. And a Grandma.
One last phone call
One decade ago this month, skydivemag.com featured Sharp in an article. She shared memories of that first jump in November 1989. Her resume shows that she’s had more than 6,800 skydiving jumps since then.
“I was of course somewhat nervous, but really focused on doing what they told me to do,” Sharp told the publication in June 2016. “After I landed, I didn’t want to leave! I loved the energy and feeling and stayed around to watch others in my class do their jumps, too.”
“ … So I made my second jump the same day. I was a freshmen (sic) in college, hadn’t told my parents what I was doing, and just wanted to see if I could do it.”
Sharp said that her experience that day helped her when life in college got a little difficult. When that happened, she said in the article, “I would tell myself, ‘If I can jump out of an airplane, I can handle this.’”
Upper shared texts and a phone call with Sharp on Saturday, while she was in Butler doing a “coach course.”
“I was just catching up with her,” Upper said of their 10-12 minute call during a short break from her work. “We had to cut our conversation short, because she goes, ‘I gotta go, we’re on a 20-minute call.’
“I said, ‘Alright, Jen, go be you.’”
The very next day, he would learn that she was gone. On Monday, he wrote another Facebook post about his friend and ended with this:
“Fly free forever my friend.”
This story was originally published June 15, 2026 at 3:44 PM.
