Thu, Feb 19, 2004
Agency Claims Skydive City Busted Regs
Australia is known for
its variety of outdoor activities, including flying and skydiving.
However, one particular jump operation faces a considerable clamp
down of its activities. Skydive City owner Luke McWilliam has been
banned from dropping parachutists within two miles of the Barwon
Heads airport. Concerns about the safety of parachutists, aircraft
and people in the vicinity of the aerodrome prompted the Civil
Aviation Safety Authority to impose the potentially devastating
ban.
McWilliam, who co-owns the aerodrome with Barbara Begg, said the
ban, effective from last Friday, was costing the company up to
$10,000 a day. He said the company was continuing to operate
through the goodwill of a nearby private landholder who allowed
them to drop into his paddocks.
Civil Aviation Safety Authority spokesman Peter Gibson said the
authority had placed several conditions on the operations at
Skydive City. CASA documents stated that Mr McWilliam had breached
aviation regulations since 2001 by dropping parachutists through
cloud and near other aircraft.
"The directions are
made in the interests of the safety of air navigation. They have
been made to protect the safety of parachutists, aircraft and
persons in the vicinity of Barwon Heads aerodrome," the authority's
directive states. "This is because since at least 2001, Luke
McWilliam and Skydive City Pty Ltd have been a party to breaches of
regulation . . . when parachutists exiting from aircraft . . . have
descended through cloud and near other aircraft."
The aviation authority has banned people undertaking parachute
descents within the two mile radius as well as ordering a pilot not
to allow a person to exit the aircraft within that same area. The
aviation authority originally launched an inquiry into an accident
at Barwon Heads Airport in 2002.
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