Skydiver Told Wife He Wasn't Going to Pull Cord

Costansa Litellini was 'moments too late' to save her husband
By Michael Harthorne,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 15, 2017 3:30 PM CDT
Skydiver Sent Wife 'Disturbing' Video Before Fatal Jump
Capotorto Vitantonio, 27, died when he failed to deploy his parachute during a skydive Tuesday in Florida. Before diving, he sent his wife a video saying he wasn't "going to pull the cord and that he was going somewhere wonderful."   (Facebook)

Costansa Litellini ran into Florida's Skydive DeLand on Tuesday begging them not to let her husband go up in a plane, the Orlando Sentinel reports. But the plane, with 27-year-old Capotorto Vitantonio inside, had already taken off. Vitantonio's body was found face down in a field a short time later. According to WKMG, officials say Vitantonio sent a "disturbing" video to Litellini before his jump. Police say in the video Vitantonio told his wife he was “not going to pull the cord and that he was going somewhere wonderful." A Skydive DeLand employee had radioed the plane after Litellini's intervention, but general manager Mike Johnston tells the Daytona Beach News-Journal the message was received "moments too late."

Vitantonio was an experienced skydiver with around 600 jumps, and both he and Litellini worked for a parachute manufacturer in DeLand, People reports. It's unclear why he didn't deploy his parachute Tuesday after jumping from an altitude of 13,500 feet. A Skydive DeLand employee who saw Vitantonio before his jump says he "seemed normal." Vitantonio's was the fifth reported death at Skydive DeLand since May 2013. Johnston says there's only so much the business can do to keep skydivers safe after they leave the plane. “When a person steps out the door, they are responsible for themselves," he tells the News-Journal. (More skydiving stories.)

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