Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Liberal, Kansas 67901
Sunday, October 7, 2001 14:51 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot said their gas balloon was cruising at 3,000 feet agl over the Liberal, Kansas, area when they experienced a microburst. The pilot said they suddenly found themselves heading for the ground at a very high rate of descent. The pilot said they dropped ballast to try and slow their descent. He said he then saw that his angle of descent was going to take the balloon into power lines along a road. The pilot said he opened the vent and put the basket on the road. The envelope went into the power lines, tore open, caught fire, and burned. At the time of the accident the aviation routine weather report for Dodge City, Kansas, 60 miles northeast of the accident site, reported clear skies, 10 miles visibility, and winds of 180 degrees at 19 knots with gusts to 25 knots. The report also stated in the remarks that peak winds of 31 knots were recorded at 1600. The balloon was part of a gas balloon race associated with the annual Albuquerque Balloon Festival in which the contestants try to cover the farthest distance within a three day period.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's inadvertent flight into adverse weather conditions during cruise flight and the unsuitable landing area encountered during the uncontrolled descent. Factors relating to this accident were the high wind, the pilot's unsuccessful attempt to compensate for the wind conditions, the pilot's unsuccessful attempt to avoid the power lines during the landing, and the power lines.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/7/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1451 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Liberal |
| Event State | KANSAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 67901 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 370153N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1005059W |
| 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 | 1456 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 37 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | DDC |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 2594 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 60 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| 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) | 23 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 8 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 200 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 23 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 30 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.98 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 4079 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 11298 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 7 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2140 |
| 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 | Wichita, Kansas FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | D-OAGH |
| NTSB Number | CHI02LA002 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Worner |
| Aircraft Model | 1000 STU |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1069 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1989 |
| 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 | 6 |
| Number of Engines | -- |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | May 28 2001 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 43 |
| Airframe Hours | 43 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Harris A. Goodwin |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 311 Bighorn Ridge NE |
| Aircraft Owner City | Albuquerque |
| Aircraft Owner State | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 87122 |
| 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) | Air Race/Show |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | -- |
| Departure City | Albuquerque |
| Departure State | NM |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 2000 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Liberal |
| Destination State | KS |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | Yes |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 13 2001 3:31PM |
| User who most recently changed record | SULP |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |