It’s sad to hear about events like this. About an hour away at Skydive Orange, two skydivers came in contact about 200 feet from the ground, causing their parachutes to be tangled and them to fall to the ground.
Francis Wootten III of Ruckersville, Va., 54, was taken to the University of Virginia’s hospital in Charlottesville, where he died of his injuries yesterday morning. Robert G. Kotenko, 29, of Washington, DC, was also taken to the U-Va. hospital, police said.
The United States Parachute Association explains that skydiving is a relatively safe sport citing only 821 injuries and 18 fatalities, out of nearly 2.2 million jumps in 2007.
[via Washington Post]
Popularity: 15% [?]
Tagged as: accident, death, orange, skydiving, Virginia
the last time I think this happened was sometime around ‘94. Orange is immensely popular, so for them to go that long without incident is good.
I did that place with my Paw. It seemed really well-organized and safe. My instructor didn’t have no toenails though, which bugged me out a little. Figured he was landing rough to lose his nails but we landed just fine after I clung to him for a few minutes panting Ohmygawd ohmygawd ohmygawd in his ear. This is very sad that an older man who was trying to have a fun daring experience had to lose his life. I hope they don’t get a bad rep because of this.
not a joke or snark or irreverent towards the tragedy, but anyone know if they are still open and/or having trouble getting folks to jump now? i keep meaning to get out there, but am deterred by what seem regular crowds, because wanted to get five jumps in on a weekend, rather than stretch it out over weeks.
I used to jump there. The landing area has become SEVERELY compromised. West Point ain’t that much further away. All I’ll say..out.
@4 compromised in what way? I was actually pricing this for a birthday present to myself this upcoming spring, and now I’m a *bit* concerned.
I heard they were great…. a really down to earth bunch of folks.
my dad jumped there for years and years, i used to watch when i was a kid–saw one guy break both legs on a bad PLF. buddy of mine out there now as instructor or something—was worried it might’ve been him in the above post, just b/c he has eleventy-twelve-thousand jumps. i’ll give it a shot as soon as can, keeping west-point in mind.
Doofus, you out there?
Know all the words to “Blood Upon The Risers”, sing along with me?
“skip” wooten could not have been a nicer, more generous guy. he will be sorely missed by many people. he definitely lived life to the fullest.
admirable that he’d take chances, do things that required courage and involved risk.
no disrespect here.
I’ve been jumping there for a few months now. Its a great place and great people who have always stressed safety. I can’t imagine learning to jump anyplace else. I talked to skip about 45 minutes before he jumped and he was just having a blast enjoying the adventure.
i want to do one of those hot air balloon things like at the boars head. they are so pretty in the sky.
no toesnails at ALL? grss.
i get the whole, was doing what I loved when it happened, thing, and REALLY no disrespect here, but i can’t get over what it must have been like in the final seconds… How do you not have a heart attack before you hit the ground?? How horrible. I’m thinkin’, there was NO LOVE at the end. God bless.
Skip Wooten was a great guy who volunteered for the Building Goodness Foundation….great loss to our community
Philbert, there used to be a considerably larger landing area. It has been reduced to a fraction of what it was. There might be 15-20 people landing in a small area (if the ball fields aren’t available.) The tandem masters there are among the best, I’d feel safe with them! There are some really cool guys and gals there and some total douche bags, new faces that I hadn’t seen when I recently made some jumps there. One asspipe kicked my rig when I was packing it, hard enough to pull it off my shoulders. My buddy that I was jumping with had his rigged yanked across the hangar when he put it (unwittingly) where one of the douch bags packed “owned”.
@11 me, too orchid! scared of heights but weirdly want to ride in a hot-air balloon. thinking it will involve a bloody mary at some point…
der! missing some commas or hyphens in there: i don’t want to be weird. i meant: “but - strangely enough -” or somesuch. any my sympathies to all re: the two skydivers.
/too tired tonight
argh! not trying to backup (yet), but that would be “and” not “any”
sheesh
/dave
@15 Firefly…. chill your cute little glowing ass the hell out. I know that BP has received some flak in the last few days, but it was in response to a sustained pattern of behavior which became a source of frustration to many. Your posts are great and so please don’t fret when you multi-post…. seriously it is fine.
/’fraid of heights?Went on Dropzone at Kings Dominion and thought I was going to die… screamed like a fucking stuck pig.
lol…SOOO tired - the english major in me reared its ugly head.
we totally need to have a Scared of Heights Hot-Air Balloon Ride…at least we’d see the inside of the basket.
…at least we’d see the inside of the basket.”
Is it me or does that sound smutty?
/fuck it.. it’s always me.
I went skydiving there about three weekends ago. I hope Wingnut is ok!!
hee hee…
i give up: too many responses - have to move it to ffa.
wow, i know it’s late, folks, but must say that despite the ‘flak’ received, must still honestly comment, ie @12, which was a seriously submitted worry. I feel the pain. Nuf said.
ok, not trying to take over, but submitting last comment of night - even though it’s WAY before signing in time… just noting that has not “taken over” comments in deference to those who have a serious problem with my late night antics. Henceforth, will simply read comments and not respond… However REALLY hard that might turn out to be.
/lullaby lyrics, here….
has not “taken over” comments in deference to those who have a serious problem with my late night antics.
I for one have suspended umbrage on this perceived foul. I’m just reading elsewhere mostly for the moment. So know that you’re cool by me, and I was being uppity earlier this week about the issue.
24: ditto
it’s all about backup’s trigger finger, not his comments. he’s just happy to CLICK. I for one all I want to do is CLICK because CLICK is so CLICK satisfying. but if you compile, your posts, although less frequent, are more meaty. just open ten gazillion tabs and write something in each one and then wait to CLICK.
/soo meaaaty
ok, so maybe i think so much late into the night, damn, dear friends, why ya’ll so hatin’?? I, for one, don’t wanna read “meaty” comments cause it takes so long to take it all in.
/maybe i need to up my add meds? I’ll ponder that one and get back to you
and has failed, as usual
@27
no-no. you’re fine BP. Meaty comments only earn you scorn–remember i got ass-whupped for putting people to sleep with my learned disquisitions that extended even unto a mere topical three or four sentences. Fast and dirty’s the key, they said. less is less is more they said.
parlie rules.
better than ambien, learned disquisitions are.
/kidding. dave?
parlie does rule, sir… thanks for getting my back-up
i went tandem yesterday, for the first time, and will go back as soon as i win the lottery. i’m terrified of heights, but ten seconds into freefall i thought, “hmmm, can we do this again, like, now plz?”
words cannot explain how absolutely awesome it was. i’m still buzzing, kinda… great folks, great weather (which i know no one but jeebus himself can control), great instruction… just excellent all around. i can’t recommend them enough.
@33
Buster—is tandem kinda creepy, though?
I’m not sure i enjoy the notion ever of being tied to another guy.
Will they allow you to just hop-and-pop alone, without paying for the bondage arrangement?
Tandem sucks when your instructor is a really creepy dude who’s hitting on you and has gross feet. Despite this fact, I still clung to him for dear life once they pushed me out of the plane.
Oh, i know that guy. I assume he’s tied behind you? This sounds like a prison movie.
I think his name was Otter actually. He was repulsive but I was so freaked out that I was doing Cirque du Soleil style contortions trying to wrap my arms and legs backwards around him.
one might then easily pardon me for having misinterpreted
such seemingly salacious behaviors
and bethought myself to send a box.
if you just start reading at 37, as i did, this is a lot more interesting…& yet pretty much the same thing we’ve seen for the last month.
@39
there’s nothing like wind-force at terminal velocity to assure re-opening (deployment) of heretofore ‘closed’ muffin-shoppes (and by muffin-shoppes I mean…).
Ugh, that’s disgusting. Go sit in the corner.
Yeah, come sit in the corner. On my lap.
hard to find a corner with all these walls one bangs one’s head against.
Sit on his lap and you’ll get a tip.
wow—we haven’t had a dick-joke on Cvillain in quite some time.
In Soviet Russia, your dick is a joke.
/Did I do that right?
In Soviet Russia your dick is NATIONALIZED.
/i’m bad, i’m nationwide.
You did it right enough.
ya’ll better watch out, cause if Floozy catches ya’ll talking inappropriately, she will smack your knuckles and sent you the the FFA corner for the rest of the day.
/that said, am a little bit embarrassed how funny I thought that last bit was…
//did I hear someone say “irreverent”?
buster - was driving home from nova sunday thru orange and saw a parachutist coming in (down?). made me smile. hope it was you!
/jealous
@49
i think we both got sent to the corner, but there IS no FFA, i think—’bout time for a new post, Irreverent One.
You haven’t written a thread yet… start one for us, would you, BP?
@ 50 i hope it was too!
@ otter - i didn’t find tandem creepy because a) i’m female b) my instructor was hawt (but b1) married) and c) you actually don’t touch him/her that much once you’re out of the plane. we had to scoot close to one another before the jump, but once in the air, i had no idea i was attached to anyone. they use a drogue chute to offset the weight of having someone above you, so while you’re definitely attached, you don’t feel like you are. same with the ride down once the actual chute is deployed - we didn’t touch again until landing, when we did the tandem butt-slide. mmmm.
you can definitely do solo jumps your first time, it’s just that tandem was a) the cheapest and b) took the least amount of on-ground training. oh, and c) you jump from much higher if you go tandem - i think 13.5k feet as opposed to 3.5k for static jumps.
/if nine of you promise to go with me, we can get the group rate. who’s in?
Thanks, Buster. I always wondered. Had wrongly assumed that tandem meant you were basically Siamese twinned, velcroed tummy-to-back with only one bigass chute. I get it now. Still, i think in spite of expense i’d rather do the full PLF training and go solo… In case of unpleasantness, i’d like to be… ummmm… extricable.
Can we just go together super-early in the day and do the refresher-training, then try to get in five or six jumps in the day, just paying for gas/chute-packing—discounted that way instead of group-rate? Isn’t it just the training that’s the bulk of the expense each time you go for one jump in a day?
but happy to tag along if you get a group together.
@51 - nice dare, but I worry that it will be interpreted as “inappropriate, insensitive, blathering” etc. That having been said - thanks for the invite, will do when so inspired. Whatever that means…
/Thank you for being so forgiving and encouraging
@54
Who, me?
I’m so grateful to have you here in the wee hours—this is about when i can no longer decently send text messages or call strangers, they were all pumpkins by 10:30. We do need a new FFA though. No point in resurrecting the last one.
/i’m irish. blathering is what we do.
you made me smile, OD
@ 53 i think so - you’d have to check their website for the deets but that sounds about right.
when i [don’t] get nine people i’ll let you know. (meaning merely that i know the chances of this happening are slim to none, but should it happen, i’ll ring the otter-phone!) (is that like the banana phone?)
no, more like the no-phone iphone…
I know I’m not friggin’ jumping outa some plane…
/god love ya’ll who do
@57
would love to do; have to scrape up the cash for it, but given a bit of notice, count me in.
I did my Cat. B AFF jump there yesterday, and I loved it. The instructors were excellent, especially Lambert. That guy really knows what he is talking about. The student landing area has grass about two feet tall, which made it hard to judge the correct flair height. And honestly, their rigs look a bit older than the place I did my first AFF (Raeford). But overall it was a great experience. Everyone is friendly and the atmosphere is a lot of fun. I’m looking forward to jumping there over the winter when it’s less crowded.
My friend April was killed in a skydiving tandem accident on Sat April 2, 2008. I think it was here @ Orange Airport? She made it to UVA but only lived a few hours. I don’t know all the details yet. Just a thought … be careful everyone and think twice about doing things like this when you have young children.
You don’t know the details yet but it happened in April?
Just read this online… yikes…poor woman
@63: It was Nov. 2, 2008.