Skydive Meriden? Could Be.

A skydiving company with two sites on Cape Cod is hoping to open its third drop zone at the Meriden Markham Airport in the spring of 2012. 

“It’ll put this airport back on the map again,” said Meriden Markham’s director Arian Prevella. Prevella said Tuesday that he believes skydiving could draw people from throughout the tri-state area to Meriden.

The company, SkyDive Cape Cod, with locations in Marstons Mills and Chatham, Mass. is looking to offer tandem jumps – in which novice skydivers share their parachute and freefall rides with an instructor – initially at the site, with the aim to expand its services to different types of jumps and classes. SkyDive Cape Cod’s owner Jimmy Mendonca said he chose the airport because of its central location.

All he needs now is the approval of both the Federal Aviation Adminstration (FAA) and the city’s Aviation Commission before negotiations with the airport can be finalized.

Mendonca and Prevella – who took over operations at the airport last July – began negotiations in 2010, in hopes they could begin offering the services this spring. But when the city’s Aviation Commission was presented the pair's plans in October of 2010, it had some concerns that slowed the process.

The commission wanted to ensure that skydiving at the airport was safe – both for parachutists and flight traffic coming from Meriden-Markham and Bradley airports, the group’s Chairman Frank Lewandowski said.  The group also wanted to be certain that the program wouldn’t somehow jeopardize the airport’s ability to receive federal aviation funds in the future.

“We’d certainly like to see something like this if it could be done,” Lewandowski said. “We’re concerned about all the safety requirements that would need to be met.”

The commission asked Mendonca to obtain the FAA’s approval to operate a skydiving establishment at the site. The FAA does not have to approve a site before a skydiving business can begin operations, according to the administration, but it is often called in to assess safety items like whether or not an airport has enough land for a drop zone, or an appropriate amount of flight traffic.

Mendonca said Tuesday that his request to the FAA is currently in the works, but had taken a backburner to preparations for the seasonal openings of his company’s other two sites.

The airport currently houses small privately owned planes, a flight school, and an air taxi service that has small four-seat airplanes popular for flying local clients to locations like Block Island and Nantucket.

Prevella, a 20-year Meriden resident, began the taxi service at Meriden Markham when he took the spot as director as a way to draw attention to and encourage greater use of the airport.

“Skydiving is even more attractive – it will bring interest from outside of town,” he said. “There’s really nothing all the way between Cape Cod and New Jersey.”

The US. Parachute Association lists only one other drop zone in the state, Connecticut Parachutists, in Ellington.  An internet search reveals a second, Boston-Hartford Fun Skydiving in Danielson.

The sport has gained popularity in the recent years. Nearly 3 million skydivers leapt out of a plane in 2010, 400,000 more than jumped in 2008, according to the U.S. Parachute Association. Despite the popularity, it’s still not risk-free - in 2010 there were 21 parachuting fatalities, in 2008 there were 30.

Mendonca said he hopes progress on the plan will continue and said that in addition to providing revenue to the airport – selling jumps at about $200 a pop – skydiving would provide an infusion of tourist dollars to the city.

“We are going to be drawing people from New York to New Hampshire to Meriden. They stay the night in the hotel, fill up the car, they need to eat, they get to know the town, maybe they bring family to watch them jump,” he said. “We aimed at Meriden due to location – I think Meriden’s the right place to be.”