Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Albuquerque Balloon Park Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Albuquerque, New Mexico 87106
Friday, October 10, 1997 8:40 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The two balloons were participating in the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. According to witnesses, the Cameron N90, N1602R, was descending at an altitude of approximately 250 feet to 300 feet agl. Another witness stated that N71415 was 'moving towards N1602R and was clearly descending rapidly while burning to arrest the decent.' The pilot of N1602R reported that he was descending when the 'top of my balloon was hit from above by the bottom of the basket of another balloon.' The pilot of N71415 reported seeing N1602R 'approaching below me at a slightly quicker ground speed; then N1602R began to ascend and I began to fire both of my burners.' FAR 91.113(b) states that 'vigilance shall be maintained by each person operating an aircraft so as to see and avoid other aircraft.' Several balloon instructors stated that the balloon community teaches that the lower balloon has the right-of-way. Postaccident examination of photographs taken during the collision sequence reveal that after separating, N71415 rose approximately 275 feet, while N1602R maintained its position relative to the balloons around him.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The failure of the pilot of the Aerostar RX 8, N71415, to follow procedures/directives.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/10/1997 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 840 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | ALBUQUERQUE |
| Event State | NEW MEXICO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 87106 |
| Event Date Year | 1997 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | Yes |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | ALBUQUERQUE BALLOON PARK |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | NONE |
| 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) | 60 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 14 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 9 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1520 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 21 1997 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 849 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 12:37PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
||
|---|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
Aircraft #2 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N1602R | N71415 |
| NTSB Number | FTW98LA009A | FTW98LA009B |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- | -- |
| Damage | Substantial | None |
| Aircraft Fire | None | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cameron | Aerostar |
| Aircraft Model | N-90 | RX 8 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | N-90 | RX 8 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 5921 | RX8-3237 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1800 | -- |
| Aircraft Category | Balloon | Balloon |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No | 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 | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Feb 15 1997 12:00AM | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 50 | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 200 | -- |
| ELT Installed | Unknown | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | REALESCAPE, INC. | LA LORRAINE ENTERPRISES |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 10951 EDITH BLVD. NE | 2605 PAJARITO RD., S.W. |
| Aircraft Owner City | ALBUQUERQUE | ALBUQUERQUE |
| Aircraft Owner State | NM | NM |
| Aircraft Owner Country | ||
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 87113 | 87105 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- | -- |
| Operator Name | ||
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | ||
| Operator City | ||
| Operator State | ||
| Operator Country | ||
| Operator Zip code | ||
| Operator Code | ||
| Owner has at least one certificate | None | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Unknown | 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) | Personal | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes | No |
| Departure Airport Code | NONE | NONE |
| Departure City | SANDIA PUEBLO | |
| Departure State | NM | |
| Departure Country | ||
| Departure Time | 0 | 810 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT | |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | ||
| Destination City | ||
| Destination State | ||
| Destination Country | ||
| Specific Phase of Flight | Maneuvering | Maneuvering |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:34AM | Jan 2 2001 10:34AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 0 | 0 |
| Runway Length | -- | -- |
| Runway Width | -- | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No | No |
| Medical Flight | -- | -- |