Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Mukwonago, Wisconsin 53149
Sunday, June 16, 2002 20:00 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The balloon flight made a hard landing in 12-15 knots winds seriously injuring one of the two passengers aboard. The pilot delayed the flight and checked the weather several times before arriving at the launch site where the decision to launch was made. The pilot released two pibals at his residence located about 10 miles northeast of the launch site. The first pibal, released 1 hour and 10 minutes before the flight, headed towards 120-130 degrees at 12 knots. The second pibal, released 50 minutes before the flight, traveled in the same direction at a slower speed. During the drive to the launch site, the pilot noticed darkening skies and clouds to the northwest which he queried about when he called for an updated weather briefing. About 30 minutes after departure, the pilot noticed a breeze with a 190 degree change in wind direction and a decrease in speed. They proceeded westbound and began an ascent to 400 feet agl to clear power lines at which time the balloon was traveling about 15 knots towards the west. The pilot then descended to look for a landing area and stated that a gust pushed the balloon into trees during a landing approach. He heated the balloon, which was traveling about 12 knots, in order to get through the trees and attempted another landing. He told his passengers to prepare for a fast landing as they were traveling about 12-15 knots. The balloon came to rest 100 yards from the initial point of impact. Weather radar indicated an area of convective activity about 24 miles west of the accident site.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The inadequate weather evaluation by the pilot and high winds.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/16/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 2000 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Mukwonago |
| Event State | WISCONSIN |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 53149 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | -- |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | -- |
| 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 | -- |
| 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 | 1945 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 20 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | UES |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 911 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 19 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Dusk |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 9500 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 19 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 9 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 100 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.89 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 3 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 13906 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 18 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1448 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 30 2003 9:55AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Milwaukee FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N40051 |
| NTSB Number | CHI02LA169 |
| 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 | Lindstrand Balloons |
| Aircraft Model | 90A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 5096 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2310 |
| 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 | -- |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | -- |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Kenneth S. Walter Jr. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | W241S4115 Pine Hollow Court |
| Aircraft Owner City | Waukesha |
| Aircraft Owner State | WI |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 53189 |
| 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) | Unknown |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | -- |
| Departure City | Waukesha |
| Departure State | WI |
| Departure Country | UY |
| Departure Time | 1920 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | WI |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 16 2003 8:34AM |
| User who most recently changed record | SULP |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |