Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Cave Creek, Arizona 85331
Monday, April 15, 1996 7:49 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
A flight of four balloons was landing in a prearranged open area after completion of a sight-seeing local area tour. During the landing, the pilot of N6085C did not turn off the fuel tanks or the pilot light burners as required by the flight manual for high wind landings. During the landing, the balloon's basket drug about 422 feet along the ground before it tipped onto its side. The basket then dragged about 69 feet before the previously installed wooden upright rods broke and the basket flipped inverted and came to a stop. After the balloon had stopped, someone inadvertently actuated the burner's blast valve, and a fire immediately erupted. All but one of the occupants evacuated the basket. The operator reported that on the day preceding the accident, the nylon upright rods broke during inflation of the balloon, and they were replaced with wooden upright rods. Examination showed no evidence of any preexisting fuel tank system malfunction or failure. The manufacturer's proprietary drawings showed that only nylon or lexan rods were to be used; this requirement, however, was not specifically noted in the balloon's flight or maintenance manual. The Cameron Balloon Parts Catalog specifically required the approved upright rods.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's failure to follow the flight manual procedure by not turning off the burner's pilot shutoff valves. Factors relating to the accident were: the installation of improper (unapproved wooden) upright rods by company maintenance personnel, subsequent failure of the upright rods, and the manufacturer's unclear information concerning the replacement parts.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/15/1996 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 749 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | CAVE CREEK |
| Event State | ARIZONA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 85331 |
| Event Date Year | 1996 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| 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 | Pilot |
| 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) | 40 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 15 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 360 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | 2 |
| Injury Total Minor | 3 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 4 |
| Injury Total All | 9 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 729 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Apr 15 1996 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 900 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 9:56AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N6085C |
| NTSB Number | LAX96FA169 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cameron |
| Aircraft Model | A-210 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | A-210 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 5458 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3031 |
| 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 | Apr 3 1996 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 640 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | GETTING CARRIED AWAY |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 7254 E. CAMINO DEL MONTE |
| Aircraft Owner City | SCOTTSDALE |
| Aircraft Owner State | AZ |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 85255 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | |
| Operator City | |
| Operator State | |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | |
| 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 | 8533 |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | AZ |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 650 |
| 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 | -- |