Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73107
Monday, August 26, 2002 19:40 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

Prior to the balloon flight, the pilot checked the weather conditions from several weather reporting sources and determined that the conditions were suitable for flight. Approximately 20 minutes into the flight, the pilot noticed that the surface winds appeared to be increasing. The pilot briefed the passengers on high wind landing procedures and "executed a textbook high wind landing." After the balloon came to rest, the pilot and passengers exited the balloon basket; however, one of the passengers mentioned that her ankle was sore. It was determined by medical personnel that the passenger sustained a broken ankle.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the pilot's inadvertent flight into adverse weather conditions resulting in a hard landing. A contributing factor was the high wind.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 8/26/2002
Event Day of the Week Monday
Time of Event 1940
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City Oklahoma City
Event State OKLAHOMA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 73107
Event Date Year 2002
Event Date Month 8
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 352332N
Event Location Longitude 0973602W
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 --
Investigator's weather source Pilot
Time of the weather observation
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID --
Elevation of weather observation facility --
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation --
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) 29
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 16
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 90
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 --
Injury Total None 2
Injury Total Serious 1
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 12815
NTSB Notification Source Oklahoma City FSDO
NTSB Notification Date Aug 27 2002 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1000
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Apr 1 2003 4:20PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N242MS
NTSB Number FTW02LA240
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 Balloon Works
Aircraft Model FireFly 7B-15
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number F7B-379
Certified Max Gross Weight 1300
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 0
Number of Engines 0
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Apr 25 2002 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 39.1
Airframe Hours 315
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Michael R. Scott / Josie Scott
Aircraft Owner Street Address 3009 N. Geraldine Ave.
Aircraft Owner City Oklahoma City
Aircraft Owner State OK
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 73107
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Flying High Balloon Services
Operator Same as Owner? No
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 No
Departure Airport Code --
Departure City Edmond
Departure State OK
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1910
Departure Time Zone CDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code --
Destination City Oklahoma City
Destination State OK
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Landing
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Dec 16 2002 11:48AM
User who most recently changed record CASH
Since inspection or accident Last Inspection
Event Location Runway Number and Location --
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight Yes
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --