Skydiving at Sebastian — Sebastian, Florida

Skydiving in Sebastian is tied to one place: Sebastian Municipal Airport, the city-owned general aviation airport on the northwest side of the City of Sebastian, assigned FAA designator X26. According to the City of Sebastian, it serves primarily small personal and corporate aircraft and has two runways, the longest 4,000 feet. What sets it apart is the volume of parachute activity. The city's pilot notice warns of extensive skydive operations from sunrise to sunset, seven days a week, and adds that skydive operations occur seven days per week on a year-round basis.

Federal records say the same. The FAA airport data for X26 Sebastian Muni includes the remarks EXTSV PRCHT OPNS and AVOID OVERFLYING ARPT DURG PRCHT OPNS, meaning extensive parachute operations, and an instruction to pilots to avoid flying over the Sebastian airport while jumps are under way.

The city's own history of the field explains the scale. Its Airport History states that local flight training greatly increased operations in the mid to late 1980s and that frequent skydiving activity accounts for a large portion of operations at the airport. The same page describes the airport's current role as primarily general aviation, while noting that the airport supports and accommodates recreational activity and wants to attract more users in that category. By the city's own account, skydiving in Sebastian is a daily, year-round use of the airport rather than an occasional event.

The airfield predates the city's role in aviation. The city Airport History states that the approximate 1,025-acre airport was built by the United States Navy in 1943, known then as Roseland Satellite Field, as a naval flight training station, and that the military paid approximately $1,300 for the property. After the war, the War Assets Administration transferred the field to the City of Sebastian on January 29, 1959, under the Surplus Property Act of 1944.

That transfer carried a condition that still shapes the airport. The city explains that the deed requires the airport to be used without unfair discrimination solely for aviation purposes, and that the property returns to the United States if the terms are not met. Since 1959 the City of Sebastian has maintained and operated the airport, now 620 acres; no identifiable structures remain from the military days. Part of the original land became Sebastian Municipal Golf Course, built in 1981 on a 155-acre plot.

The Sebastian runway layout has changed several times since the Navy era. The city lists the closing of Runway 13/31 and reopening of Runway 10/28, and the conversion of Runway 18/36 to a taxiway and apron. Runway 10 now marks the edge of the parachute landing area.

The landing area is fixed. The city flight procedures page states that the general parachute landing zone is in the northwest quadrant of the airport, north of Runway 10, and tells pilots to remain clear of the parachute operations area during operating hours. During skydive operations, pilots at Sebastian are told to exercise caution and monitor Unicom 123.050, the common traffic frequency for the field.

The FAA record lists no air traffic control tower at Sebastian Muni. Traffic there is coordinated by pilots on the common traffic advisory frequency, 123.05 MHz, with weather from an on-field AWOS-3PT on 118.125 MHz. The FAA lists Runway 05/23 at 4,023 feet by 75 feet and Runway 10/28 at 3,199 feet by 75 feet, at a field elevation of 21.5 feet, about 1 mile west of Sebastian.

The city also asks pilots to follow voluntary procedures. The Sebastian flight procedures page lists air operations of 0700 to 2100 daily, touch and go practice Monday through Saturday from 0900 to 1700 with no Sunday touch and goes, no intersection takeoffs, and a best rate of climb to at least 1,000 feet above ground. The page treats every quadrant of the airport as noise sensitive.

The city provides a spot for it. On its airport general information page, the City of Sebastian describes an airport viewing park in front of the Airport Administration Building, on the front right on entering the airport, with a picnic table in a fenced area next to the airplane ramp. The city states that there is an excellent view of the skydiving operations across the field, especially on weekends, and that all are welcome to use this part of the Sebastian park system.

Access to the rest of the Sebastian airfield is controlled. The same page states that ID badges are required for personnel needing regular access, that vehicles must display an airport access sticker from the City of Sebastian Police Department, and that security cameras record 24/7. The FAA record likewise notes that identification is required for airport access.

The airport is one of the City of Sebastian's main economic assets. The city economic development page cites a Florida Department of Transportation report issued in August 2021 showing Sebastian Municipal Airport with total employment of 281, a total payroll of $16.1 million, and an economic impact of $54.2 million. That figure covers all airport activity; the city does not publish a separate share for skydiving.

Sebastian is still building out the field. The city infrastructure list records the rehabilitation of Runway 5-23, completed in summer 2024 with new LED lighting, three new 60 by 60 foot hangars on the west side completed in May 2025, and the new Taxiway Golf on the north side of the field, completed in January 2026. According to the city leasing page, the airport has over 80 acres available for aviation and non-aviation businesses, with lease terms up to 30 years, and most growth is expected on the northwest portion of the airport, the same quadrant that holds the parachute landing zone.

Aircraft noise around Sebastian is handled mostly at the federal level, and the city is clear about the limits of its role. The noise issues page states that Sebastian Municipal Airport does not control or direct aircraft that fly in and out of the airport, but that pilots have been notified of voluntary noise abatement policies. For low-flying aircraft, the city points residents to the FAA Orlando Flight Standards District Office, the federal office that investigates such reports.

The city page reproduces the federal rule that applies, Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Section 91.119, which sets minimum safe altitudes, including 1,000 feet above the highest obstacle over a congested area. The FAA record for Sebastian Muni also lists noise abatement procedures in effect and gives the airport manager's number for questions.