Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Yeso, New Mexico 88136
Friday, January 9, 1998 7:13 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The Global Hilton Roziere gas balloon experienced a rupture of its main gas cell's bottom 10 to 12 minutes after it reached its ceiling. The pilots continued to hear pops, rips, and tearing as the balloon descended to approximately 9,000 feet msl. Eighteen propane bottles and three oxygen bottles surrounded the gondola. The ground crew reported surface winds of 30 to 35 knots, and the surface terrain was rugged with canyons and rock formations. The crew decided that a safe heavy weight standup landing would not be possible, and they parachuted to the ground. The unmanned balloon continued flight for 7 hours and 375 nm until it impacted wires and was consumed by postimpact fire. The manufacturer stated that the main gas cell had 13.273 square feet of opening for the two appendixes to release surplus gas at ceiling altitude. Postaccident examination revealed that the balloon appendixes had only 8.96 square feet of opening. The manufacturer modified appendixes were buckled to the balloon's side, which further restricted the openings by 56%. The base circle in the bottom of the main gas cell 41 inches in diameter, 21.75% smaller than design specifications.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The rupture of the gas cell bottom (diaphragm) due to inadequate manufacturer's design and inadequate manufacturing quality control. A factor was the flight crew's performance of an emergency bailout which allowed the balloon to drift unattended for approximately 7 hours and 18 minutes.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 1/9/1998 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 713 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | YESO |
| Event State | NEW MEXICO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 88136 |
| Event Date Year | 1998 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| 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 | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 955 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 90 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | CVS |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 4214 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 36 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 20000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 7 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 2 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -3 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 280 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 19 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1721 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jan 10 1998 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1100 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 11 2000 10:38AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N298AR |
| NTSB Number | FTW98FA089 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | VFR/IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cameron |
| Aircraft Model | R-420 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | R-420 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 001 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 11980 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | -- |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Unknown |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 11 |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | WORLD FLIGHT LIMITED COMPANY |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. BOX 964 |
| Aircraft Owner City | MOJAVE |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 93502 |
| 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) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | NONE |
| Departure City | ALBUQUERQUE |
| Departure State | NM |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 618 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | NONE |
| Destination City | GAINSVILLE |
| Destination State | TX |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:30AM |
| 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 | -- |