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A ground observer reports that a skydiving operation at mev has selected drop zones that impinge on the traffic pattern; thus creating a collision hazard.

Narrative:

During the summer of 2007 a sky dive outfit opened at the minden-tahoe (mev) airport; minden; nv. Their landing zone was immediately off the north-west end of the taxiway for runway 34-16. As it was summer; immediately adjacent to that landing zone was the minden air tanker base where one single engine air tanker and the air attack's commander were based; as well as the nevada division of forestry and their two huey firefighting helicopters. They were advised of frequent fire activity and they assured everyone they would shut down operations when the planes were dispatched. When the first fire occurred; they did not stop operations. This was dangerous enough. We observed a parachutist descending into the downwind-to-base traffic pattern for runway 34. Today; we learned the drop zone has relocated off the airport on property two parcels west from the south end of runway 34-16 under the left turn of downwind-to-base. Douglas county has been notified but doesn't feel they have jurisdiction. The airport doesn't feel they have jurisdiction. What was a dangerous location has become an extremely dangerous situation.callback conversation with reporter revealed the following information: the reporter states that the skydiving operation has moved their drop zone again. The new position is on the west side midfield half way between the downwind and the runway. While this may be acceptable under ideal conditions; it does not allow any room for error.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A Ground Observer reports that a skydiving operation at MEV has selected drop zones that impinge on the traffic pattern; thus creating a collision hazard.

Narrative: During the summer of 2007 a sky dive outfit opened at the Minden-Tahoe (MEV) airport; Minden; NV. Their landing zone was immediately off the North-West end of the taxiway for Runway 34-16. As it was summer; immediately adjacent to that landing zone was the Minden Air Tanker Base where one single engine air tanker and the Air Attack's Commander were based; as well as the Nevada Division of Forestry and their two Huey firefighting helicopters. They were advised of frequent fire activity and they assured everyone they would shut down operations when the planes were dispatched. When the first fire occurred; they did not stop operations. This was dangerous enough. We observed a parachutist descending into the downwind-to-base traffic pattern for Runway 34. Today; we learned the drop zone has relocated off the airport on property two parcels West from the South end of Runway 34-16 under the left turn of downwind-to-base. Douglas County has been notified but doesn't feel they have jurisdiction. The airport doesn't feel they have jurisdiction. What was a dangerous location has become an extremely dangerous situation.Callback conversation with reporter revealed the following information: The reporter states that the skydiving operation has moved their drop zone again. The new position is on the West side midfield half way between the downwind and the runway. While this may be acceptable under ideal conditions; it does not allow any room for error.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.