Narrative:

We departed culpeper county airport en route to lyh via V453 and V456. About 3 mi south of orange county airport, the student saw something falling in front of us and to our right. He called it out to me and, when I looked, a parachute canopy opened at our altitude and slightly to our right. I pulled back and climbed above the parachute while turning left. The near miss was caused, in my opinion, because we were distracted and failed to monitor orange county unicom. Gordonsville VOR was OTS. The student received this information on the preflight but failed to note it. As we climbed to 4500 ft MSL, I was busy tuning the LORAN. The student was flying erratically after he realized the VOR was off. I was worried about a scattered layer near our proposed cruising altitude. As a result, we failed to tune orange county unicom.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: NMAC BTWN A PARACHUTIST AND AN SMA NEAR AN UNCTLED ARPT.

Narrative: WE DEPARTED CULPEPER COUNTY ARPT ENRTE TO LYH VIA V453 AND V456. ABOUT 3 MI S OF ORANGE COUNTY ARPT, THE STUDENT SAW SOMETHING FALLING IN FRONT OF US AND TO OUR R. HE CALLED IT OUT TO ME AND, WHEN I LOOKED, A PARACHUTE CANOPY OPENED AT OUR ALT AND SLIGHTLY TO OUR R. I PULLED BACK AND CLBED ABOVE THE PARACHUTE WHILE TURNING L. THE NEAR MISS WAS CAUSED, IN MY OPINION, BECAUSE WE WERE DISTRACTED AND FAILED TO MONITOR ORANGE COUNTY UNICOM. GORDONSVILLE VOR WAS OTS. THE STUDENT RECEIVED THIS INFO ON THE PREFLT BUT FAILED TO NOTE IT. AS WE CLBED TO 4500 FT MSL, I WAS BUSY TUNING THE LORAN. THE STUDENT WAS FLYING ERRATICALLY AFTER HE REALIZED THE VOR WAS OFF. I WAS WORRIED ABOUT A SCATTERED LAYER NEAR OUR PROPOSED CRUISING ALT. AS A RESULT, WE FAILED TO TUNE ORANGE COUNTY UNICOM.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.