Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Rio Rancho, New Mexico 87124
Wednesday, June 21, 1989 7:45 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
THE BALLOON PILOT TOOK OFF WITH 8 PASSENGERS ON A SIGHTSEEING FLIGHT. LATER INTO THE FLIGHT, THE WINDS STARTED TO INCREASE AND SUITABLE LANDING AREAS BECAME SCARCE. THE PILOT DECIDED TO LAND ON A MESA. SHE SAID SHE GAVE THE PASSENGERS TWO HIGH WIND LANDING BRIEFINGS. DURING THE ENSUING HARD LANDING, ONE PASSENGER SUSTAINED A FRACTURED ARM AND ANOTHER PASSENGER FRACTURED A FOOT. THE BALLOON WAS NOT DAMAGED. ALBUQUERQUE, NM, AT 0750 MDT REPORTED THE WIND FROM 220 DEGREES AT 10 KTS WITH NO GUSTS. THIS WAS 15 NM FROM THE ACCIDENT SITE WHERE THE PLT REPT 15KT WINDS WITH GUSTS TO 20 KTS AND A LOW LEVEL WIND SHEAR.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A HARD LANDING DUE TO THE PILOTS FAILURE TO ACCURATELY EVALUATE THE WEATHER CONDITIONS ALONG WITH A DELAY IN MAKING A PRECAUTIONARY LANDING. FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO THE ACCIDENT WERE HIGH WINDS AND WIND SHEAR ALONG WITH ROUGH/UNEVEN TERRAIN.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/21/1989 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 745 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | RIO RANCHO |
| Event State | NEW MEXICO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 87124 |
| Event Date Year | 1989 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | |
| 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 | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 0 |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 750 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 153 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | ABQ |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 5352 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 15 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MDT |
| 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) | 27 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 2 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 220 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 7808 |
| 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 | 6 |
| Injury Total Serious | 2 |
| Injury Total All | 3 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 331 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 22 1989 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 824 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 38873 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 13 2000 12:45PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N4207U |
| NTSB Number | DEN89LA145 |
| 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 | Raven |
| Aircraft Model | S77A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | S77A |
| Aircraft Serial Number | S77A-108 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2800 |
| 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 | 0 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Mar 3 1989 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 29 |
| Airframe Hours | 278 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | WORLD BALLOON CORP. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 4800 EUBANK, N.E. |
| Aircraft Owner City | ALBUQUERQUE |
| Aircraft Owner State | NM |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 87111 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | WORLD BALLOON CORPORATION |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 4800 EUBANK, N.E. |
| Operator City | ALBUQUERQUE |
| Operator State | NM |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 87111 |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Airport Code | NONE |
| Departure City | ALBUQUERQUE |
| Departure State | NM |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 700 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | NONE |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 22 2001 3:51PM |
| 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 | -- |