Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Scottsdale, Arizona 85260
Saturday, February 15, 2003 10:15 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot made an emergency landing between power lines. Once the basket touched down, the envelope contacted high voltage lines and the voltage/spark arced to the ground. The envelope and basket sustained substantial damage. The pilot obtained local area weather briefings. He indicated that at the time of the accident there were no winds, and he was using more fuel than normal due to the lack of winds. The pilot noted a low fuel state and was crossing over power lines to get to an open space for landing. The balloon had crossed over three sets of power lines, when the pilot noted that he wasn't going to cross safely over the last set. He saw an open space between the third and fourth set of power lines and made an emergency landing. The pilot stated that he and the passengers did not feel voltage/spark in the basket.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's inadequate in-flight decision to cross over four sets of power lines with the existence of a known low fuel state and lack of wind, and failure to maintain altitude/clearance from the power lines during the landing, which resulted in the envelope contacting high voltage power lines.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/15/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1015 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | SCOTTSDALE |
| Event State | ARIZONA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 85260 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 334400N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1115600W |
| 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 | 953 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 355 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SDL |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1510 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 8 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 1500 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 700 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 14 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 12 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.09 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | KLAX 271850Z 23010KT 8SM FEW050 24/17 A2992 RMK AO |
| 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 | 6 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 16912 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Feb 19 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 911 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 28 2004 12:45PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP-SDL-FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N5285M |
| NTSB Number | LAX03LA099 |
| 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 International Inc. |
| Aircraft Model | S-71A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | S71-3023 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2000 |
| 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 | 7 |
| Number of Engines | 0 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Feb 15 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 93.9 |
| Airframe Hours | 178.6 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | PL LEASING, INC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 2910 N. ACADEMY #102 |
| Aircraft Owner City | COLORADO SPRINGS |
| Aircraft Owner State | CO |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 80917 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | ADVENTURES OUT WEST |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 15001 N. 74TH STREET, STE F |
| Operator City | SCOTTSDALE |
| Operator State | AZ |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 85260 |
| 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) | Other Work Use |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | -- |
| Departure City | SCOTTSDALE |
| Departure State | AZ |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 835 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| 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 | Landing - flare/touchdown |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 5 2004 5:34PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | Yes |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |