Narrative:

Mission was a high altitude low opening parachute airdrop training sortie. We were dropping military paratroopers into 'reverse' drop zone. ZSU was giving advisories and we were also monitoring tower frequency for deconfliction. Tower requested we give them time advisories before the drop which we did and the same with center. About 1 min before the drop, center told us to advise when jumpers were away. Overhead the intended drop point tower asked us to hold the jumpers and I relayed the message to the crew. But the jumpers were already on the way out and it was too late to stop them. Tower later asked who gave permission to drop the parachutists and I answered that center told us to advise when they were away so I thought clearance was implied. 2 subsequent drops were made that day and the crew clarified with tower that tower was the clearance authority/authorized for making the drops. During mission planning, none of the paperwork at hand advised that we had to have clearance from tower. We also briefed with the drop zone control officer and it was not mentioned that we had to have clearance from tower. So clearance was implied in our opinion unless we heard otherwise. For future missions, it has been implemented that crews making airdrops over tjnr do a face to face brief with tower and drop zone control officers to avoid this type of confusion in the future.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: MIL C130 CREW DROPPED MIL PARATROOPERS AT A MIL AIR STATION WITHOUT PROPER COORD. CLRNC WAS GIVEN BY ZSU WHEN THEY DID NOT HAVE THE AUTH.

Narrative: MISSION WAS A HIGH ALT LOW OPENING PARACHUTE AIRDROP TRAINING SORTIE. WE WERE DROPPING MIL PARATROOPERS INTO 'REVERSE' DROP ZONE. ZSU WAS GIVING ADVISORIES AND WE WERE ALSO MONITORING TWR FREQ FOR DECONFLICTION. TWR REQUESTED WE GIVE THEM TIME ADVISORIES BEFORE THE DROP WHICH WE DID AND THE SAME WITH CTR. ABOUT 1 MIN BEFORE THE DROP, CTR TOLD US TO ADVISE WHEN JUMPERS WERE AWAY. OVERHEAD THE INTENDED DROP POINT TWR ASKED US TO HOLD THE JUMPERS AND I RELAYED THE MESSAGE TO THE CREW. BUT THE JUMPERS WERE ALREADY ON THE WAY OUT AND IT WAS TOO LATE TO STOP THEM. TWR LATER ASKED WHO GAVE PERMISSION TO DROP THE PARACHUTISTS AND I ANSWERED THAT CTR TOLD US TO ADVISE WHEN THEY WERE AWAY SO I THOUGHT CLRNC WAS IMPLIED. 2 SUBSEQUENT DROPS WERE MADE THAT DAY AND THE CREW CLARIFIED WITH TWR THAT TWR WAS THE CLRNC AUTH FOR MAKING THE DROPS. DURING MISSION PLANNING, NONE OF THE PAPERWORK AT HAND ADVISED THAT WE HAD TO HAVE CLRNC FROM TWR. WE ALSO BRIEFED WITH THE DROP ZONE CTL OFFICER AND IT WAS NOT MENTIONED THAT WE HAD TO HAVE CLRNC FROM TWR. SO CLRNC WAS IMPLIED IN OUR OPINION UNLESS WE HEARD OTHERWISE. FOR FUTURE MISSIONS, IT HAS BEEN IMPLEMENTED THAT CREWS MAKING AIRDROPS OVER TJNR DO A FACE TO FACE BRIEF WITH TWR AND DROP ZONE CTL OFFICERS TO AVOID THIS TYPE OF CONFUSION IN THE FUTURE.

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.