Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Albuquerque, New Mexico 87105
Saturday, October 6, 2001 9:30 MDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The balloon pilot was provided a detailed weather briefing prior to the flight which called for light and variable winds. Soon after departure, the winds increased from 4-6 knots to 6-8 knots, gusting to 15 knots. The pilot flew around waiting for winds to subside to no avail. The pilot was forced to land with the prevailing high winds when he started getting low on fuel.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

Ther pilot's delay to compensate for changing weather conditions in-flight. Contributing factors were the high winds and an inaccurate weather forcast.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 10/6/2001
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 930
Event Time Zone Mountain Daylight Time
Event City Albuquerque
Event State NEW MEXICO
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 87105
Event Date Year 2001
Event Date Month 10
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 350224N
Event Location Longitude 1063633W
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 1023 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) 13
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 2
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 310
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 8
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 15
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.28
Density Altitude (feet) --
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 --
Injury Total None 1
Injury Total Serious 2
Injury Total All 2
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 13066
NTSB Notification Source FAA Operations Center
NTSB Notification Date Oct 6 2001 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 2133
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Apr 29 2003 4:26PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Albuquerque, NM

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N9524U
NTSB Number FTW02LA011
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? No
Damage Minor
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Cameron
Aircraft Model 105
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 5611
Certified Max Gross Weight --
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 --
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Donald L. Rose
Aircraft Owner Street Address 718 Vista Del Camino
Aircraft Owner City Albuquerque
Aircraft Owner State NM
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 87105
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) Personal
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code ABQ
Departure City Albuquerque
Departure State NM
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 800
Departure Time Zone MDT
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code ABQ
Destination City Albuquerque
Destination State NM
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Landing
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Feb 10 2003 9:20AM
User who most recently changed record CASH
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location --
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --