Maui County Council Member Bob Carroll has called a Hana community meeting at 5 p.m. today at the Hana Community Center to discuss the possibility of a skydiving business using Hana Airport as a drop zone.

Skydive Hana has set up a “coming soon” website (www.skydivehana.com), to advertise “something fun to do in heavenly Hana!” The business says it plans to offer tandem and sports skydiving at the Hana Airport, using a four-seat Cessna 182 and “Hawaii’s best tandem instructors and the pristine beauty of Hana below.”

The website cautions that “when jumping at Hana Airport: Hana is a remote location with limited emergency medical response ability.”

Among the website’s reasons for customers to choose Skydive Hana are the “world’s most beautiful drop zone, Hawaii’s most exciting activity . . . beautiful facilities . . . (and) community involvement.”

Carroll holds the council’s East Maui residency seat. According to his Hana office, today’s meeting will be attended by Federal Aviation Administration and state Department of Transportation officials.

Carroll’s Hana office provided The Maui News with a copy of minutes from a Feb. 26, 2008, state Airports Division meeting during which Skydive Hawaii President Frank Henshaw made a presentation to the community.

He told those gathered at that meeting that his business at the time operated out of the Dillingham Airfield on Oahu, generated $2.5 million annually in revenue and served 15,000 customers. Henshaw said he expected his business could handle three to five jumps per day at the Hana Airport.

During the meeting, safety concerns were expressed about communication with an existing hang-gliding operation, the safety of airport tenants and customers and the difficulty of emergency access to heavily forested areas near the drop zone.

And there were community concerns, much of which was about variable winds and the safety of parachutists missing their mark (possibly landing in residents’ yards) and Hana Airport’s small and dangerous drop zone. There also were concerns about additional aircraft noise, generating more vehicle traffic on Hana Highway and the safety and protection of nearby historic sites, including many heiau and the King’s Trail.