Independence, MO IT Engineer Matthew Swope, 39, Among 12 Killed in Butler Skydiving Plane Crash

Among the 12 people killed when a skydiving plane crashed during takeoff at Butler Memorial Airport in Butler, Missouri on Sunday were fathers, teachers, instructors, and adventurers. One of them was Matthew Cole Swope, 39, of Independence, Missouri, a man whose life story was defined by a refusal to let fear or hardship slow him down.

His mother, Dorcie Swope, confirmed his death in a Facebook post Sunday evening.

“One of them was my youngest child, Matthew Cole Swope, 39 y/o, doing what he loved best,” she wrote, asking for prayers for his three sisters, two brothers, and the wider family as they navigate their grief.

The plane, operated by Skydive Kansas City, was carrying 11 skydivers and a pilot when it went down around 11:30 a.m. Officials said the single-engine aircraft failed to reach full power during takeoff.

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The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration are investigating the cause of the crash.

A Survivor Who Chose to Live Without Limits

What made Matthew Swope’s story particularly striking was what came before Sunday. As a child, he had survived cancer, a battle his family said he realistically should not have won. Rather than living cautiously after that brush with death, Swope took the opposite approach entirely.

His nephew Caden Bahl shared a tribute to Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas’s condolence post, writing that Swope had told people he was at peace with his own mortality and had committed to living exactly how he wanted.

“He went out the way he’d have wanted to, doing what he loves,” Bahl wrote. “Matthew Swope will forever be in our minds as a light for our family and many others.”

By the time of the crash, Swope was far from a newcomer to the sport. He had completed approximately 750 jumps, making him a seasoned and experienced skydiver. His Facebook page reflected that passion, featuring a series of photos from his time in the air.

A Career in Tech, a Heart in the Sky

On the ground, Swope built a steady professional life in information technology. At the time of his death, he was working as a Microsoft 365 Systems Engineer at KBP Brands in Leawood, Kansas, a position he had started in March 2025.

Before that, he spent several years in various IT roles at GEHA Health, working his way up from technical support to application engineer.

Friends remembered him as someone who showed up consistently and genuinely, the kind of person whose absence is felt immediately. Paul Hickman, a longtime friend, wrote on Facebook that when he heard about the accident and reached out to Swope and got no response, he feared the worst right away.

“That was not normal for us,” Hickman wrote. “You were always one of the good ones.”

The names of others identified among the victims include Jen Sharp, an expert skydiver and Director of Technology for the US Parachute Association; Dave Hershberger, a North Kansas City music teacher; Dustin McKinney; Nick Nash; Mike Shanahan; Dane Cordes; Marcus Miller; Will Fischer; and Blake Thacker. Three victims had not been publicly identified as of Monday.

Matthew Cole Swope is survived by his mother, siblings, and nephew.