Has Issues With Airfield's Proximity To The Kings Bay Submarine Base

The United States Navy has told the FAA that it should relocate St. Marys Airport in SE Georgia because of its proximity to the Kings Bay Submarine Base. The Navy says the airport is a security risk.

In a letter to the FAA Southern Region sent Tuesday, Navy Southeast Region Commander Rear Admiral John C. Scorby said it was renewing its call to move the airport "to ensure safe and uninterrupted operations at this strategically critical installation."

The Florida Times-Union reports that Scorby said that the Navy's issues with the airport go back to before September 11th, 2001. A similar letters was sent to the city of St. Marys.

The issue came to a head recently when two skydivers were blown off course and landed on a baseball diamond on the base. It wasn't the first time skydivers had landed on the Navy base, and the city of St. Marys subsequently terminated the lease for The Jumping Place which had been operating from the airport. But the Navy has long wanted to have the airport relocated. The city has too, according to City Councilman Jim Grant, but it does not have the money to do so. He said the airport, which should be good for the town, has become something of a liability. He also said that if the city was forced to choose between the airport and the submarine base, which injects some $600 million into the local economy every year, the sub base will win.

The Jumping Place, meanwhile, has filed a formal complaint with the FAA over the revocation of its authority to operate from a federally-funded airport. The skydiving company says its permit was revoked without due process, and other tenants at the airport receive preferential treatment. The FAA has given the city until Friday to respond to the complaint.

FMI: www.navy.mil, www.faa.gov