A Maui County council member is asking the Federal Aviation Administration to further review a proposed skydiving operation at Hana Airport in the wake of a community meeting in East Maui where concerns about safety, environmental damage and staffing levels of emergency personnel were raised.

Council Member Robert Carroll, who holds the East Maui residency seat and lives in Hana, sent a letter Thursday to the FAA’s Office of Airport Compliance and Management Analysis and Hawaii’s congressional delegation urging more scrutiny of Skydive Hawaii’s proposed operations.

“Community members voiced concerns about public safety; the limited availability of emergency response personnel; the potential of disturbing environmental, cultural and historic areas; potential drift off course by a skydiver; trespassing onto private property; damage to sensitive ecosystems’ flora and fauna and possible loss of life,” Carroll said in a news release.

Since the FAA conducted a “Risk Assessment, Safety Audit for Airports Regarding Parachute Operation” in January 2010, there have been many changes at the Hana Airport and its surrounding areas that warrant an updated assessment, Carroll said. These include regularly scheduled flights by Mokulele Airlines, an increase in helicopter flights, a surge in visitor counts and a steady rise in calls for emergency personnel.

The meeting in Hana on June 2 attracted more than 60 people and included state Department of Transportation officials and several FAA officials via teleconferencing, according to Carroll’s office.

An FAA official on Oahu referred all comment to agency officials on the Mainland, who could not be reached Friday.

However, on Nov. 20, 2007, the FAA Honolulu Flight Standards District Office issued a letter to the state “asserting that skydiving operations can be safely conducted” at Hana Airport if the state holds scheduled airport user meetings, develops standard operating procedures and closely monitors airport activities to ensure safety.

The state Department of Transportation said Friday that “a timeline for a decision (on the skydiving operation) has not been established.”

“The skydiving proposal for the Hana Airport continues to be discussed taking into account perspectives from both sides of the issue,” the department said in a news release. “All factors including safety, emergency response and the environment are being considered. A decision will be made by the Hawaii Department of Transportation Airports Division based on guidance from the FAA.”

Sonny Vaoifi, manager of Skydive Hawaii on Oahu, said Friday that “we just want to add a different experience for the people of Maui.”

He said many Maui residents venture to Oahu every year to skydive and “it would be a lot easier on Maui if they had an operation on the island.”

Vaoifi said he did not know the particulars of the approval process for the Maui operation. There is a “team that is handling all that stuff,” he said. The manager said that he was not aware of Carroll’s recent efforts.

Skydive Hawaii is operated by Skydiving School Inc., which also does business as Island Skydiving LLC, according to documents. The Maui News reported in advance of the June 2 meeting that the operation planned to offer tandem and sports skydiving using a four-seat Cessna 182. Skydive Hana has set up a “coming soon” website at www.skydivehana.com.

“Caution when jumping at Hana Airport: Hana is a remote location with limited emergency medical response ability,” the website says.

Carroll’s letter to the FAA references correspondence his office received from Mokulele Airlines, which began regularly scheduled flights from Kahului Airport to Hana Airport in October 2012, and the Maui County police and fire departments, all of which expressed concerns over the proposed skydiving operation.

Mokulele officials worried about the interaction of skydivers and its aircraft – nine-seater Cessna Grand Caravans – and other issues, including insurance policies, which will be affected if a skydiving operation uses Hana Airport.

Public safety officials were concerned about maintaining response times if they had to search for a wayward skydiver.

“This could take hours. In worse cases, more than a day,” said Hana Fire Capt. Gale Notestone. “This situation would leave our district open without immediate coverage.”

If skydivers miss their landing marks, they could end up in dense forested areas. Notestone wondered if skydivers will have locator beacons to use if lost.

Maui Police Chief Tivoli Faaumu expressed similar concerns.

“In the event a skydiving accident were to occur and officers were dealing with another call for service outside of Hana town, our response time could be delayed due in large part to the vast area the district covers and the limited number of police resources on hand in the district,” he said.

The chief referenced two recent examples where police response times were limited in the expansive, rural area. A landslide in May in the Keanae area closed off the entire roadway and blocked access to the East Maui community for several hours. In June, an armed man was detained by residents and Haleakala National Park rangers in Kaupo as police made their way to the scene on 18 miles of narrow and sometimes unpaved roads.

* Melissa Tanji can be reached at mtanji@mauinews.com.