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Pilot of PA25 advises that routine skydive activities at D73 pose a collision hazard to aircraft operations on the ground.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 612777 |
| Time | |
| Date | 200403 |
| Day | Sat |
| Local Time Of Day | 1201 To 1800 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | airport : d73.airport |
| State Reference | GA |
| Altitude | agl single value : 0 |
| Environment | |
| Flight Conditions | VMC |
| Light | Daylight |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Operator | general aviation : personal |
| Make Model Name | PA-25 Pawnee |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 91 |
| Flight Phase | ground : taxi |
| Flight Plan | None |
| Person 1 | |
| Affiliation | other |
| Function | flight crew : single pilot |
| Qualification | pilot : multi engine pilot : instrument pilot : commercial pilot : cfi pilot : atp |
| Experience | flight time last 90 days : 40 flight time total : 6900 flight time type : 3000 |
| ASRS Report | 612777 |
| Person 2 | |
| Function | other personnel other |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | ground encounters : person inflight encounter : skydivers non adherence : published procedure non adherence : far |
| Independent Detector | other flight crewa |
| Resolutory Action | none taken : unable |
| Miss Distance | horizontal : 25 vertical : 0 |
| Supplementary | |
| Problem Areas | FAA Airport Flight Crew Human Performance |
| Primary Problem | Airport |
| Situations | |
| Airport | procedure or policy : d73.airport |
Narrative:
PA25 pawnee was taxiing from airport apron onto taxiway. Parachute jumpers descended onto airport apron, taxiway and parking area, nearly hitting aircraft and parked vehicles. The jump operation uses apron and parking area as drop zone instead of grassy area, that has no obstructions. Descending parachutists are difficult to see from inside aircraft and are hazardous both to themselves and aircraft operations on airport. Callback conversation with reporter revealed the following information: reporter advised the skydiving activity over the airport is routine and it appears to be condoned by airport management. The reporter said, 'in my situation, the skydivers appeared out of nowhere and landed in close proximity to our aircraft as we were taxiing.' although meetings have been held to discuss the safety issues described in the report, the potential for conflicts between aircraft and skydivers, both on the ground and in the air, continues to exist, according to the reporter.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: PLT OF PA25 ADVISES THAT ROUTINE SKYDIVE ACTIVITIES AT D73 POSE A COLLISION HAZARD TO ACFT OPS ON THE GND.
Narrative: PA25 PAWNEE WAS TAXIING FROM ARPT APRON ONTO TXWY. PARACHUTE JUMPERS DSNDED ONTO ARPT APRON, TXWY AND PARKING AREA, NEARLY HITTING ACFT AND PARKED VEHICLES. THE JUMP OP USES APRON AND PARKING AREA AS DROP ZONE INSTEAD OF GRASSY AREA, THAT HAS NO OBSTRUCTIONS. DSNDING PARACHUTISTS ARE DIFFICULT TO SEE FROM INSIDE ACFT AND ARE HAZARDOUS BOTH TO THEMSELVES AND ACFT OPS ON ARPT. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: RPTR ADVISED THE SKYDIVING ACTIVITY OVER THE ARPT IS ROUTINE AND IT APPEARS TO BE CONDONED BY ARPT MGMNT. THE RPTR SAID, 'IN MY SITUATION, THE SKYDIVERS APPEARED OUT OF NOWHERE AND LANDED IN CLOSE PROXIMITY TO OUR ACFT AS WE WERE TAXIING.' ALTHOUGH MEETINGS HAVE BEEN HELD TO DISCUSS THE SAFETY ISSUES DESCRIBED IN THE RPT, THE POTENTIAL FOR CONFLICTS BETWEEN ACFT AND SKYDIVERS, BOTH ON THE GND AND IN THE AIR, CONTINUES TO EXIST, ACCORDING TO THE RPTR.
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.