Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Cottageville, West Virginia 25239
Wednesday, October 23, 2002 17:00 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
As the balloon was positioned to land at a "selected-predicted" field, the pilot observed power lines in the decent path, and the elected to abort the landing. The pilot fired the main burner, and realized that the balloon would not climb above the power lines. Unable to deflate the balloon or stop the forward momentum, he ordered the passenger to jump from the basket. The pilot secured the fuel system and jumped to the ground. The balloon then struck and slid down the power lines, before descending to the ground. The landing field was about 600 feet in length, with a tree line at the approach end. About 120 feet beyond the tree line, were utility power lines and an electric fence. No obstacles were observed beyond the power lines for the remainder of the field along the balloons flight path. According to the Balloon Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-11), "It is usually better to fly over an obstacle and land beyond it than to land in front of it. Over fly powerlines, trees, and water, among other obstacles, on the way to the landing, rather than attempting to land in front of them and risk being dragged into them."
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's improper decision not to over fly the landing area, which resulted in an in-flight collision with power lines.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/23/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1700 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Cottageville |
| Event State | WEST VIRGINIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 25239 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 385200N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0814851W |
| Event Location Airport | -- |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | NONE |
| 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 | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1653 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 20 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PKB |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 858 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 22 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| 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) | 12 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 4 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 100 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.32 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 14986 |
| NTSB Notification Source | EROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 23 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 510 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 2 2004 8:06AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | FSDO-09, Charleston, WV |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N71AV |
| NTSB Number | NYC03LA013 |
| 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 | Avian Balloon |
| Aircraft Model | Skyhawk |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 71 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1200 |
| 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 | -- |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Delbert F. Bratcher |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Cottageville |
| Aircraft Owner State | WV |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 25239 |
| 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 | NONE |
| Departure City | Cottageville |
| Departure State | WV |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1630 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| 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 | Descent |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 29 2003 10:54AM |
| User who most recently changed record | PEAR |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |