Laconia Airport Authority Still Waiting For FAA Airspace Analysis

Nearly a year ago, Tom and Mary Noonan went to the Laconia Airport Authority in the lakes region of New Hampshire proposing a tandem skydiving business they hoped to locate at the airport. The airport safety committee said they had a number of liability and safety concerns, and wanted to take a look at how such businesses were handled at similar airports.

The safety committee decided it needed guidance from the FAA, and requested that the Administration conduct an airspace safety analysis to see if skydiving could fit in with other activities at the airport.

They're still waiting.

"Once we receive [the analysis], the Safety Committee will have a meeting," Newb LeRoy, Vice-Chairman of the Laconia Airport Authority, told the Citizen of Laconia. "We'll start getting things together from there and make a recommendation to the Authority as a whole."

The FAA told Airport Director Dianne Cooper that they are currently inputting the airport's information into a database.

In the meantime, Tom and Mary Noonan have been taking turns flying to New Hampshire for monthly board meetings. Tom Noonan thinks the FAA will tell the airport authority that skydiving will be compatible at the airport, But LeRoy said the FAA analysis is not the final word on the matter. "If the report is negative, the authority can say negative and agree with that," said LeRoy. "If it's positive, we can agree with that or disagree with that."

LeRoy said that if the FAA says skydiving can be done safely, and if the Safety Committee and the Airport Authority agree, the Noonans would still have to comply with airport standards, negotiate a lease, and sign a contract.

Tom Noonan told the paper that, while he doesn't think he's received a lot of support from the Airport Authority, he's hopeful the business will eventually get off the ground. "Mary and I are confident that the FAA will come back and say that this airport can sustain skydiving," said Noonan. "We're anxious to see what happens, we're going to keep a positive frame of mind, expect positive results and we'll go from there."

FMI: www.faa.gov, www.laconiaairport.com/laa/