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|
Attributes | |
ACN | 840055 |
Time | |
Date | 200906 |
Local Time Of Day | 1201-1800 |
Place | |
Locale Reference | 1O3.Airport |
State Reference | CA |
Environment | |
Flight Conditions | VMC |
Light | Daylight |
Aircraft 1 | |
Make Model Name | Piper Single Undifferentiated or Other Model |
Operating Under FAR Part | Part 91 |
Flight Phase | Descent |
Flight Plan | None |
Person 1 | |
Function | Single Pilot |
Qualification | Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) Flight Crew Flight Instructor |
Experience | Flight Crew Last 90 Days 250 Flight Crew Total 12900 Flight Crew Type 35 |
Events | |
Anomaly | Deviation - Procedural FAR Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Inflight Event / Encounter Other / Unknown |
Narrative:
I was PIC of a VFR flight to lodi; ca (1o3). Prior to departure; I called flight service to obtain a NOTAM and tfr briefing for the route. I do not recall there being a NOTAM for skydiving in progress in lodi. I was however aware that it does occur by looking through airport pubs; and the symbol on the sectional chart. I was aware that the drop zone is located on the southeast corner of the airport. Upon arriving in the lodi area I called for an airport advisory on CTAF/unicom when I was 8 miles out. There was no response. Soon after; there was a mooney reporting that he was on a straight in final to runway 26. I wanted to look at the windsock if possible; but was still concerned about the drop zone. I elected to transition 2 miles north (estimated) of the airport to give clearance for the drop zone; just to be safe; although I did not believe it was being used because there were no position or drop reports from drop aircraft. Incidentally; I was never close enough to the airport to see the windsock clearly because of the offset. I announced that I was generally overhead the field for landing at 2100 ft. At this point; I was informed that there was a drop zone at the airport; and that it was active. I explained that I was actually transitioning north of the airport by a margin and was making a general position report. I asked that they advise when the drop was done as I did not want to land at the airport while a drop was in progress. The gentleman then responded that skydiving is always in progress in lodi. I then elected not to land; because of the active drop zone; and the lack of traffic calls from jump aircraft in the area. I felt this was an unsafe situation; and diverted to byron. I feel that proper use of the unicom/CTAF by jump operators to give advisories would be helpful. Also use of notams to alert landing and transiting aircraft of this hazard would be helpful. On my part; in the future; I will call a skydiving/glider operator that uses the airport beforehand on the telephone for information; as well as using the radio as a means of information gathering.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: A pilot approaching Lodi; CA (103) was told that the airport's skydiver drop zone was always in use and so diverted to a nearby airport.
Narrative: I was PIC of a VFR flight to Lodi; CA (1O3). Prior to departure; I called Flight Service to obtain a NOTAM and TFR briefing for the route. I do not recall there being a NOTAM for skydiving in progress in Lodi. I was however aware that it does occur by looking through airport pubs; and the symbol on the sectional chart. I was aware that the drop zone is located on the southeast corner of the airport. Upon arriving in the Lodi area I called for an airport advisory on CTAF/UNICOM when I was 8 miles out. There was no response. Soon after; there was a Mooney reporting that he was on a straight in final to Runway 26. I wanted to look at the windsock if possible; but was still concerned about the drop zone. I elected to transition 2 miles north (estimated) of the airport to give clearance for the drop zone; just to be safe; although I did not believe it was being used because there were no position or drop reports from drop aircraft. Incidentally; I was never close enough to the airport to see the windsock clearly because of the offset. I announced that I was generally overhead the field for landing at 2100 FT. At this point; I was informed that there was a drop zone at the airport; and that it was active. I explained that I was actually transitioning north of the airport by a margin and was making a general position report. I asked that they advise when the drop was done as I did not want to land at the airport while a drop was in progress. The gentleman then responded that skydiving is always in progress in Lodi. I then elected not to land; because of the active drop zone; and the lack of traffic calls from jump aircraft in the area. I felt this was an unsafe situation; and diverted to Byron. I feel that proper use of the UNICOM/CTAF by jump operators to give advisories would be helpful. Also use of NOTAMs to alert landing and transiting aircraft of this hazard would be helpful. On my part; in the future; I will call a skydiving/glider operator that uses the airport beforehand on the telephone for information; as well as using the radio as a means of information gathering.
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.