Says Landing Zone At Airport May Not Be Adequate For Safe Operations

Chattanooga Skydiving Company uses a grassy area adjacent to the runway at Marion County Airport (KAPT) in Jasper, TN as its landing zone. The company says it has conducted 20,000 parachute jumps landing at the airport without a single incident.

But that hasn't satisfied the Marion County Airport Board, which at a meeting last Thursday asked for a formal safety review from the FAA of the operation.

Marion County Attorney William Gallagher told the Chattanooga Times Free Press newspaper that the only issue is safety. He said the airport is "really small, and doesn't have a whole lot of open space for landing."

Gallagher has suggested that the company select another site for its drop zone, a condition that the company finds unacceptable.

The owner of the company, Justin Silva, said he plans to fight any restrictions on skydivers landing at the airport, and has hired an attorney to represent him.

Silva points out that the FAA gives skydivers the same rights as it does to small airplanes, and that requiring landings at a remote site would be a hardship for his business. After landing at the airport, customers can walk to their cars. If they had to land at an off-airport location, Silva says he would have to hire a commercial driver and buy a van to transport them back to the airport. It also saves turnaround time for skydiving instructors, who can be ready for the next group immediately after landing.

Silva says his business is successful, and contributes nearly $2 million to the local economy every year. But during the meeting last Thursday, some local farmers came to complain about skydivers landing in their fields, sometimes damaging crops or letting livestock out when they open gates to get to a road. Gallagher said that some pilots have expressed concerns to him about the potential of hitting a skydiver in the air or while taxiing. "I'm sure if there's some kind of mishap, everybody would get sued. That's one of the concerns of the county board," he said.

The airport has received federal grants in the past, and so the FAA has the final say as to whether skydiving is a safe activity at the airport.

FMI: www.faa.gov