Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Windsor, California 95492
Saturday, May 22, 1999 8:20 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The balloon basket hit hard and overturned during a precautionary landing. The pilot contacted the tower at the intended point of landing 2 miles away, and they notified him of winds gusting to 21 knots. The wind was calm at the balloon's location, but the pilot decided to land. Before he could get the balloon to the ground, the winds increased rapidly. The balloon hit the ground and went through a fence prior to a hard collision with the steep bank of a creek. The pilot was ejected as he tried to deflate the balloon, and the copilot landed the balloon. It hit hard and the basket turned onto its side. The balloon Flight Manual (FM) requires the balloon to be equipped with helmets for each passenger and recommends that they be worn during landings in winds 10 mph or greater. It instructs the pilot to brief passengers on proper use prior to flight. The pilot did not have enough helmets on board to equip every passenger, did not brief the passengers that they were available, and did not brief them on the equipment's proper use. About 3 hours before the flight, the pilot contacted a Flight Service Station for weather information at his destination. This brief occurred a few minutes prior to the release of the next scheduled aerodrome forecast (TAF), which noted the possibility of a rapid increase in wind velocity about the time of the actual landing. The estimated time of arrival for which the pilot obtained the brief could not be established. The pilot did not update his briefing prior to launch. It could not be established if he obtained a standard briefing, abbreviated briefing, or requested specific information. The pilot recalled receiving winds aloft, but not a forecast for high surface winds. The Airman's Information Manual states that if the pilot requests either a standard or abbreviated weather briefing, a briefer will automatically provide adverse conditions both present and forecast. The briefer will provide a destination forecast for the estimated time of arrival and any significant changes within 1 hour before and after the planned arrival time.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot did not obtain the most current weather briefing available, which forecast high winds about his actual landing time. The balloon encountered high winds and collided with an embankment in a field during a precautionary hard landing. Factors in the accident were that the pilot did not have enough protective gear for all passengers as prescribed in the Flight Manual, and he did not brief the passengers that the gear was available or on its proper use.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/22/1999 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 820 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | WINDSOR |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 95492 |
| Event Date Year | 1999 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| 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 | 853 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 180 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | STS |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 125 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 2 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| 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) | 28 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 2 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 10 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 15 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 21 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| 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 | 13 |
| Injury Total None | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | 2 |
| Injury Total All | 15 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 11304 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 22 1999 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 918 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2002 2:29PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N3037V |
| NTSB Number | LAX99LA189 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cameron |
| Aircraft Model | A-250 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | A-250 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 6052 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 5000 |
| 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 | -- |
| Number of Engines | -- |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Aug 6 1998 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 43 |
| Airframe Hours | 153 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | SCOTT VAN DER HORST |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | SEBASTOPOL |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 95472 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| 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? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| 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) | Other Work Use |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | O31 |
| Departure City | HEALDSBURG |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 745 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | STS |
| Destination City | SANTA ROSA |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 12 2001 3:58PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 0 |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | Yes |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |