Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Tucson, Arizona 85726
Saturday, February 17, 1996 8:30 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
A passenger sustained fractures of foot bones during a hard landing in high wind conditions during a for-hire local area sightseeing flight in a balloon. The pilot reported that the winds were nearly calm when the flight departed. The balloon drifted in a northerly direction and the pilot selected a flat area being prepared for a new housing development. The pilot described the winds at the time of the landing as about 8 knots. The balloon was descending on a flat trajectory towards the preselected spot when the pilot noticed a drainage canal under construction just beyond. The pilot said he was concerned about the balloon ending up in the canal and ceased venting in order to go beyond the ditch. He said the balloon landed firmly, not hard, and bounced several times before coming to a stop on it's side. The injured passenger and other passengers on the flight reported that the balloon descended toward the landing spot and 'all of a sudden we hit the ground really hard, the balloon basket fell over onto it's side, then, back to an upright position, and the next thing we knew we were up in the air again.' The passengers further stated, 'then we came down at an angle, and bounced on the ground five times.' The passenger stated that she felt a sharp pain in her right foot as the balloon was bouncing on the ground.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the interruption to the pilot's planned landing approach due to obstructions in the original touchdown spot, which led to the pilot misjudging the landing flare.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/17/1996 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 830 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | TUCSON |
| Event State | ARIZONA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 85726 |
| Event Date Year | 1996 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Witness |
| Time of the weather observation | 0 |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 0 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 50 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -- |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 9 |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 299 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 20 1996 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1015 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 9:51AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N6317U |
| NTSB Number | LAX96LA190 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | None |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Aerostar |
| Aircraft Model | S-77A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | S-77A |
| Aircraft Serial Number | S77A-3013 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2835 |
| Aircraft Category | Balloon |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 0 |
| Number of Engines | -- |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | BALLOONS ABOVE THE VALLEY |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. BOX 3838 |
| Aircraft Owner City | NAPA |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 94558 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | HOT AIR EXPEDITIONS, INC. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 15115 N. AIRPORT DRIVE |
| Operator City | SCOTTSDALE |
| Operator State | AZ |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 85260 |
| Operator Code | |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Unknown |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | -- |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Unknown |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 750 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:34AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 0 |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | Yes |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |