Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Reno, Nevada 89511
Saturday, February 22, 2003 8:00 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The balloon collided with power lines while descending toward a landing spot. The pilot was crossing a north-south ridgeline while approaching a landing spot in a meadow. The balloon flew over the descending slope and cleared a set of power lines that ran parallel to the ridgeline. A sudden wind shift occurred, blowing the balloon back towards the power lines. The pilot turned on the burner in an attempt to clear the power lines again, however, sufficient lift was not achieved. Realizing that a collision was inevitable, the burner and tanks were shut off and instruments disconnected. After the initial impact the balloon continued rising, and the pilot pulled the 'rip-cord' attached to the deflation port. A rapid decent followed, and the balloon came to rest directly under the power lines.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A sudden wind shift that forced the balloon to drift towards an obstruction, and the pilot's inability to perform an evasive maneuver in sufficient time to prevent a collision.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/22/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 800 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | Reno |
| Event State | NEVADA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 89511 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 394000N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1195200W |
| 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 | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 756 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 140 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KRNO |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 4412 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 11 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 20000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| 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) | -1 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -34 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.1 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 4316 |
| 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 | 3 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 16114 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Feb 22 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 955 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 1 2004 7:08AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP-FSDO Reno, NV |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N6413N |
| NTSB Number | LAX03LA095 |
| 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 | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Aerostar |
| Aircraft Model | RX-7 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | RX7-3039 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1480 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 10 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 20 |
| Airframe Hours | 355 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Jeffrey D. Haliczer |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | On File |
| Aircraft Owner City | Reno |
| Aircraft Owner State | NV |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 89511 |
| 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 | -- |
| Departure City | Reno |
| Departure State | NV |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 715 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| 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 | Approach |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 18 2004 5:43PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| 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 | -- |