Wooten family wants business name changed after airboat tour crash

The Wooten family feels their name is being tarnished after the recent airboat crash in Ochopee on Friday, December 13th.

Shelley Wooten, the granddaughter of Raymond Wooten, the founder of Wooten’s Everglades Airboat Tours, has one request.

“In light of what happened on the thirteenth, my family and my mother would respectfully request that they change the name because it’s no longer honoring my family’s legacy,” she said.

Thirty-three people who rode on Wooten’s airboats were part of the crash on Friday.

“I haven’t slept much because I’ve been thinking about these people, and they deserve more of an answer than what they’re getting,” Wooten said.

Shelley remembers how the family business started in 1953.

“Some tourists were driving by, and they stopped and saw my grandpa and his family on the airboat,” she said. “They said, ‘Hey, we’ll pay you if you give us a ride in that thing!'”.

Wooten’s has been giving airboat rides since then, even after Shelley’s family sold the business ten years ago.

“Airboats are fun, and they can be safe,” she said. “In the 60 years of my family having the business, we never had anything bad that happened.”

The airboat accident that happened Friday haunts Shelley.

“I saw the helicopters, and I saw some drone footage,” she said. “That’s when I started praying for the people involved.”

Shelley thought of people like Alssya Windom, a mom who was seven months pregnant at the time of the crash.

“My heart goes out to all of the people that were on those airboats, and the children and the pregnant women,” she said. “I can’t imagine how scared they were.”

Shelley remembers the tiger attack at Wooten’s in 2022 when an employee injured his arms and hands.

She didn’t speak up then, but she wanted to now.

“I don’t want the people that were injured and hurt and traumatized to blame the Wooten family for it because it’s not us,” she said.

Shelley is pleading with the current owners of Wooten’s to change the name of the business.

“I feel like my father and my grandfather would want me to speak out and say, ‘Just do the right thing and change the name. Rebrand yourself, and fix things,'” she said. “I want that Wooten legacy to end on a good note.”

Shelley said she’s called and emailed Wooten’s but has not heard back.

WINK News reached out to Wooten’s Thursday for a response to the crash and ask if they’re going to change the name of the business.

Wooten’s said a name change would need to come from upper management.

The company directed WINK to a statement on their website from Friday:

“Wooten’s Everglades Airboat Tours regrets that a collision involving two airboats occurred this afternoon.

We immediately contacted local area emergency authorities, who responded rapidly to the scene, providing care to the passengers.

Following the accident, we began working with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the sheriff’s office to aid in their investigations, which are ongoing.

All of us at Wooten’s offer our sincere sympathies to everyone involved, and wish them a speedy recovery.”