OCALA, Fla. – John Travolta sued the owners of the airport outside his exclusive “fly-in” community, claiming they lied to the Federal Aviation Administration to keep him from landing his Boeing 707 there.
In the federal lawsuit filed Wednesday, the actor claims Greystone Airport owners James and Christine Garemore falsely changed the airport master record in 2006 to indicate that it could not support large airplanes.
Travolta has a home at the Jumbolair Aviation Estates in Ocala and wanted to fly his Boeing 707 there. It is an affluent, 550-acre community with a $6 million runway – the largest paved, private airfield in the United States.
The lawsuit is seeking an injunction requiring the Garemores to immediately withdraw the 2006 report and authorize flights with the airport master record as it existed before. It also seeks to nullify the report because of false or misleading information to the FAA and to prohibit “future baseless filings.”
“The runway is not suitable for heavy aircraft. It is cracking and breaking,” James Garemore told the Associated Press on Friday. “They are bringing this lawsuit against me, and all I was doing was trying to maintain safety here.”
Todd Hopson, Garemore’s attorney, said his client never stopped Travolta from landing on the 7,550-foot runway.
The lawsuit was filed under the corporations Jett Clipper Johnny and Constellation and as Ellen Bannon and Margaret Rau, who are trustees of Hawker Investment Trust, which is the titled property owner for Travolta’s nine-acre spread near Jumbolair.
Travolta built an $8 million residence there and has continually used the runway without incident, the lawsuit said. It also claims Travolta was assured he would be able to use the airport.
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