Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Temecula, California 95289
Sunday, April 27, 1997 8:15 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot reported that after 45 minutes of flight he began looking for a place to land which was accessible by the ground crew. The balloon was drifting toward an area of hills and the pilot spotted a hill with a flat top, which had recently been graded off in preparation for construction. A road sufficient for recovery of the balloon ran up the spine of the connecting ridge line. The pilot then began a descent toward the landing spot, but overshot the hilltop and touched down on the far slope. The balloon gondola touched down on a large rock hidden in tall vegetation just as the pilot pulled the rip panel open to deflate the envelope and the balloon tipped over on its side. The pilot had left one pilot light on during the touchdown sequence and the pilot flame ignited a grass fire. The pilot, along with a nearby resident, attempted to extinguish the fire with fire extinguishers, but were unsuccessful and the balloon was consumed in the fire. Fire department vehicles monitoring the balloon competition reached the site in about an hour and extinguished the grass fire.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's misjudgment of his speed and altitude, which led to a landing overshoot.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/27/1997 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 815 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | TEMECULA |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 95289 |
| Event Date Year | 1997 |
| 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 | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 755 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 320 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | RIV |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 133 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 22 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 20000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 15000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 35 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 18 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 1 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 140 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 311 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Apr 27 1997 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 920 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 12:13PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N16067 |
| NTSB Number | LAX97LA169 |
| 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 | N-77 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | N-77 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 5970 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1540 |
| 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 | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 17 1996 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 47 |
| Airframe Hours | 339 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | GENERAL MOTORS CORP |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 31 E. JUDSON STREET |
| Aircraft Owner City | PONTIAC |
| Aircraft Owner State | MI |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 48342 |
| 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 | |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 700 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| 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 | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |