Missouri plane crash rips hole in close-knit skydiving community

The weather was perfect for a skydive, Gloria Shanahan told her son Michael as he headed out the door Sunday — mid-70s and the kind of deep-blue skies longtime skydivers love.

Michael Shanahan, 54, had taken up skydiving over a decade ago when his sister was stricken with breast cancer, and he became determined to live his life to the fullest, his mother said.