Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Phoenix, Arizona 85027
Friday, August 11, 2000 6:25 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
On a for-hire sightseeing flight, the balloon encountered unusual wind conditions and collided with the ground after the envelope partially collapsed. One passenger sustained a fractured ankle in the hard landing. The pilot said that a preflight weather briefing contained no flight precautions for the proposed flight area. The launch site is in a flood control basin near a dam and surrounded by hills. Following launch, the pilot contoured a hill and, as the balloon neared the top, it encountered a wind shear the pilot described as a direction change of 70 degrees with a speed of 10 to 12 knots. The pilot said that on the lee side of the hill, he encountered a downdraft followed immediately by an updraft. The pilot said he believed he encountered a wind rotor. The rapid changes in air mass movement distorted the balloon envelope and resulted in spilling some of the heated air. The balloon then entered a rapid descent the pilot was unable to arrest with three burners going and collided with the ground. The METAR for an airport 4 miles away at the time of the accident was reporting winds from 100 degrees at 8 knots. The pilot did not use pibals or other on sight wind quantification devices prior to launch.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to use pibals or other on site wind determination devices, and his subsequent failure to detect adverse wind conditions prior to launch of the balloon.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/11/2000 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 625 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | PHOENIX |
| Event State | ARIZONA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 85027 |
| Event Date Year | 2000 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| 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 | 653 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 150 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | DVT |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1476 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 4 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MST |
| 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) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 93 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 64 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 100 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total None | 8 |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 3 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 10557 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 11 2000 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1210 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 26 2001 10:21AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N7244X |
| NTSB Number | LAX00LA292 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | None |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Balloon Works |
| Aircraft Model | FIREFLY II |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | FIREFLY II |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 11008-3-S |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3940 |
| 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 | Jul 14 2000 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 27 |
| Airframe Hours | 199 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | MARS LEASING CO, INC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 27231 N. 71ST PLACE |
| Aircraft Owner City | CAVE CREEK |
| Aircraft Owner State | AZ |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 85331 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | HOT AIR EXPEDITIONS |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 2243 E. ROSEGARDEN LOOP |
| Operator City | PHOENIX |
| Operator State | AZ |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 85024 |
| 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 | 617 |
| 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 | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 2 2001 4:00AM |
| 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 | -- |