Skydive Myrtle Beach wrongfully shut down by county

Skydive Myrtle Beach was forced to vacate Hangar 7 at Grand Strand Airport by Horry County in October, citing alleged “Safety Concerns.”

That in itself remains to be seen and is awhole other story since Skydive Myrtle Beach and Horry County are in litigation.

I jumped there Aug. 5 as my “Bucket List Jump” and had the time of my life; yes I will go up again. That is how much fun I experienced.

What bothers me, here is a U.S. veteran-owned small local business which contributed to the local economies of both North Myrtle and Myrtle Beach by “trickle-down” economics. When jumpers came to jump, they spent dollars on local restaurants, hotels and other goods and services.

That benefited the local businesses. TripAdvisor Reviews and MyrtleBeach.com gave it high marks, too. In fact, Skydive Myrtle Beach was rated number 1 for action sports. Jumpers came from many different states in the United States and countries of the world.

What bothers me is that no one from the local business community and North Myrtle Beach Chamber of Commerce came forward to express their support for Skydive Myrtle Beach, almost like they were “here today, gone tomorrow.”

I suspect good old boy politics is at play here for the shutdown and eviction of Skydive Myrtle Beach by Horry County.

This story was originally published December 30, 2015 at 10:50 AM with the headline "Skydive Myrtle Beach wrongfully shut down by county."