FAA Closes Investigation Into Lincoln Co. Skydiving Crash

<p>The FAA has released new information in last summer's&nbsp;skydiving death&nbsp;in Oklahoma.&nbsp;</p>

Sunday, February 5th 2017, 11:06 pm

By: News 9


The FAA has released new information into the skydiving death in Oklahoma last summer.

Sheralynn Neff, 26, of Kansas, died after mysteriously falling from her parachute near Cushing.

Just over six months since Neff's skydiving training class turned deadly, there are still questions that may never be answered.

Neff, who was known as Marie, jumped six times on Sunday, July 24, 2016, but on the final run she somehow got separated from her parachute.

The Lincoln County Sheriff's Office found the parachute, with harness still attached, in some trees, but Neff's body wasn't found until the next morning in a thicket of tall grass and brush.

News 9 spoke with Sheriff Charlie Dougherty that day about the 16-hour search.

“They were within hundreds of yards from where the pilot gave us initial information,” he said. “We knew that we needed to find her pretty quick on time.”

The FAA has now concluded that both Neff's parachute and harness were in good working order and showed no signs of malfunctioning.

Dougherty told News 9 Neff was only 110 pounds, and she had been secured in the harness with an extra belly strap.

FAA spokeswoman Lynn Lunsford said they are not able to make a conclusive determination of what went wrong, but that agency's only responsibility is checking the equipment.

The rest of the investigation is up to the sheriff's office and the medical examiner.

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