Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Rio Rancho, New Mexico 87174
Wednesday, June 13, 2001 7:35 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot received weather information from several sources beginning at 0300 that morning. Additionally, he obtained wind data from a remote sensor northwest of Rio Rancho and from another near Sandia Peak. The forecast he received indicated winds from 200 degrees at 8 knots till 1000 and then changing to 250 degrees at 13 knots gusting to 22 knots. He launched a pibal to check the current wind speed at the launch site and he determined it was "favorable." He launched with eight passengers on board and when he first checked his airspeed it was 4 knots. After climbing over a mesa, he noted that his airspeed had increased to 8 knots and was increasing. At that point of the flight, there were no favorable landing sites. He found a suitable landing site of open desert and briefed the passengers on high wind landing procedures. The pilot said that as the balloon descended, it passed through a wind shear zone with surface winds up to 30 knots. The winds on the lower half of the balloon created a false heavy and the pilot could not slow the excessive descent. After impact, the balloon skidded approximately 100 yards before its envelope could be deflated and the balloon stopped. During the landing, one passenger broke an ankle.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's inadvertent weather encounter with wind shear, and the resulting inability to maintain the proper landing descent rate, which resulted in a hard landing. A factor was the high wind weather condition.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/13/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 735 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | RIO RANCHO |
| Event State | NEW MEXICO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 87174 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| 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 | -- |
| 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 | 756 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | ABQ |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 5355 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MDT |
| 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) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 21 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -2 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 220 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 12 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.82 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 7419 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 5 |
| Injury Total None | 3 |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 6 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 12285 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA COMM CTR |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 13 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1400 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 20 2002 10:08AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N7507V |
| NTSB Number | DEN01LA116 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | None |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cameron Balloons |
| Aircraft Model | N-210 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 5808 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3600 |
| 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 | 9 |
| Number of Engines | -- |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jun 29 2000 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 36 |
| Airframe Hours | 660 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | WORLD BALLOON, LLC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 4800 EUBANK BLVD NE |
| Aircraft Owner City | ALBUQUERQUE |
| Aircraft Owner State | NM |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 87111 |
| 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) | Aerial Observation |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | NONE |
| Departure City | RIO RANCHO |
| Departure State | NM |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 650 |
| Departure Time Zone | |
| 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 | Landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | Yes |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 29 2002 1:13PM |
| User who most recently changed record | MCBM |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | Yes |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |