Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Los Lunas, New Mexico 87031
Saturday, March 18, 2000 9:50 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The St. Patrick's Balloon Rally weather briefing indicated calm surface winds. Winds aloft were greater than 20 knots, and the level was expected to drop later that morning. On a previous flight, the winds aloft had been negligible, then varied between southeasterly at 5 knots to westerly at 3 knots. On a later flight, the wind was 'variable and slow,' then became 'predominantly to the west at approximately 2to 3 knots.' The pilot landed the balloon in an open field 'unassisted and standing up.' The envelope was not deflated at that time because the wind was calm and the chase crew had not yet arrived. When the chase crew did arrive, 'the wind seemed to change direction to the southeast,' and wind speed 'increased dramatically...from the northwest at approximately 10 to 15 knots.' The balloon ascended about 15 to 20 feet. The balloon 'throat collapsed and [the pilot] could not burn to compensate for false lift.' He attempted to vent the envelope, but the top would not open because it was cold from standing on the ground. The false lift dissipated, the balloon struck the ground, and was dragged across the field.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's decision not to deflate the envelope. A factor was the wind gust.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/18/2000 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 950 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | LOS LUNAS |
| Event State | NEW MEXICO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 87031 |
| Event Date Year | 2000 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| 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 | Unknown |
| 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 | 856 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 5 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | ABQ |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 5355 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 25 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 9000 |
| 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) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 7 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -14 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 320 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 24 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 30 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 5416 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 3 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 3 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 112 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 18 2000 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1315 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 10 2001 9:54AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N4035T |
| NTSB Number | DEN00LA062 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Adams |
| Aircraft Model | A55S |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | A55S |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 139 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1500 |
| 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 | Jun 18 1999 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 35 |
| Airframe Hours | 593 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | MARLIN W. MILNER |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 400 ROBERT CT. |
| 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) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | NONE |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 910 |
| 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 10 2001 12:27PM |
| 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 | -- |