Chrysalis Carter, who has lived for 30 years at her quiet rural home on Blue Mountain between Sequim and Port Angeles said Mason was flying low over the property four to six days a week in good weather last summer.

She could see the wing walkers standing on the plane quite clearly. The noise was so disruptive and constant, she said, she and her husband considered moving.

Told of the FAA action Thursday, Carter let out a sigh and said “I’m utterly relieved.”

The court ruling in the Blue Ribbon homeowner case barred the Masons from using either the Blue Ribbon airstrip or their hangar for the wing walking business.

Mason’s appeal of that Clallam County Superior Court judgment is still pending, though unless he wins his appeal of the FAA ruling it may become moot.

In an interview Thursday, Mark Long, chair of the homeowner board, was circumspect about the FAA decision.

Long, a pilot of small airplanes himself, said he and the board took legal action only to force Mason to move the business off its property.

He said the board did not want to complain to the FAA and go after Mason’s license.

“We’re pilots,” Long said. “We feel bad whenever we hear somebody’s had their ticket, their license, revoked.”

“That was never our intent,” he added. “We know it’s his living. We hope he gets it back.”

The forced closure of Mason Wing Walking may remove the last opportunity anywhere for well-off amateurs to take their chances with this daredevil bucket-list stunt.

The U.K.-based Wing Walk Company offers a similar service, although it straps its clients to the rig on top of the plane for takeoff and landing and the duration of the flight. There’s no actual walking on the wing while in the air.

In the U.S., professionals perform wing walking at some small air shows. But Mason’s operation was the only way for a member of the public to sign up for such a ride.

©2024 The Seattle Times. Visit seattletimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.