A woman from Lynchburg died last week from her injuries resulting in a skydiving accident at the Orange County Airport, according to Virginia State Police.
This accident was the second skydiving death at the Orange County Airport south of Culpeper in less than two months. April Haag, a 40-year-old woman, was tandem jumping with licensed parachutist, 44-year-old Douglas Zebley of Virginia Beach at the time of the accident. According to Virginia State Police spokesman Sgt. Les Tyler, the skydiving jump took place around noon on Saturday, November 1, 2008.
Tyler stated that the skydiving couple experienced a “hard landing,” but he would not elaborate about the exact cause of the skydiving accident, which is currently under investigation. Haag and Zebley were transported by air to the University of Virginia Medical Center, where Haag died of her injuries on Sunday, November 2, 2008, said Tyler.
Zebley was reported in fair condition by a nursing supervisor at the University of Virginia Medical Center on Tuesday evening.
Haag’s obituary states that she was an active member of Heritage Baptist Church and was retired from the Lynchburg Juvenile Detention Center, where she worked for more than 14 years. Funeral services were held at Heritage Baptist Church and visitation for family and friends was at Whitten Timberlake Chapel.
Another skydiving accident took place on September 22, 2008 when a man from Ruckersville was killed due to his injuries from a group parachute jump. According to Virginia State Police, the Ruckersville man’s parachute became entangled with another skydiver’s, which sent the two freefalling through the sky.