Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Rio Rancho, New Mexico 87124
Sunday, December 22, 1996 8:50 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot reported that she received a weather briefing at approximately 0610 that morning from the Albuquerque FSS. The pilot reported that the balloon flight began at 0750 with 'winds at approximately 6 knots or less.' Approximately 3 to 4 miles northwest of the launch site the pilot 'lowered the balloon to river level and drifted along at 2 to 3 miles per hour for 20 to 30 minutes.' As the balloon rose out of the river valley, the wind shifted to 210 degrees and increased to 15 to 20 MPH. The pilot stated that it took her approximately 20 minutes to locate a 'safe' landing area and by then the wind speed had increased to 20 to 25 MPH. Upon landing, the pilot 'deployed the deflation port,' but the impact was such that two passengers were 'bounced out of the basket.' One of the passengers fell forward and was seriously injured due to being 'run over' by the basket.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's inadvertent flight into high wind.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/22/1996 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 850 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | RIO RANCHO |
| Event State | NEW MEXICO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 87124 |
| Event Date Year | 1996 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| 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) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 4 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 210 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 20 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 25 |
| 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 | 3 |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1592 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Dec 22 1996 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1850 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 10:29AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N6310T |
| NTSB Number | FTW97LA069 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Minor |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Aerostar |
| Aircraft Model | RX-8 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | RX-8 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 3083 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1600 |
| 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 | May 1 1996 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 37 |
| Airframe Hours | 382 |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | CHERYL MASON |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1413 32ND CIRCLE SE |
| Aircraft Owner City | RIO RANCHO |
| Aircraft Owner State | NM |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 87124 |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Airport Code | NONE |
| Departure City | ALBUQUERQUE |
| Departure State | NM |
| 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 | -- |
| 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 | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |