Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
N/A Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Highland, Michigan 48357
Wednesday, July 23, 2003 7:32 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Two passengers of the sightseeing balloon flight sustained serious injuries during a hard landing. A total of eleven passengers were on-board. Seven of the passengers, as well as the pilot, reported minor injuries. The remaining two passengers reported no injuries. The balloon was undamaged. The pilot reported surface winds at departure were light. However, during flight at 2,500 feet mean sea level, the winds were in excess of 30 knots, according to the pilot. He reported descending to where more moderate winds were encountered. The pilot stated that about 30 minutes into the flight, however, lower level winds started to increase. He stated he had selected a field and was approaching to land when the winds "increased rapidly" and the trees "began to move violently." Power lines and a house were reportedly located at the opposite end of the landing field. For this reason, the pilot reported that he felt he needed to land immediately considering the reported high winds and gusts and the presence of the power lines and house. Passengers stated the balloon basket clipped a tree on approach. The balloon impacted the ground and was dragged about 170 feet, ejecting one passenger in the process. The balloon was undamaged. The pilot reported no malfunctions with the balloon prior to the accident.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Failure of the pilot to maintain a proper descent rate. Contributing factors were the pilot's failure to maintain clearance from the trees, the reported high winds and gusts, the trees, the power lines and the house.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/23/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 732 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Highland |
| Event State | MICHIGAN |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 48357 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 424000N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0833700W |
| Event Location Airport | N/A |
| 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 | 753 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 265 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PTK |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 980 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 9 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 1000 |
| 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) | 16 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 14 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 350 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 7 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.96 |
| 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 | 8 |
| Injury Total None | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | 2 |
| Injury Total All | 10 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 14568 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 23 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 805 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 30 2003 8:55AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | FAA -- Detroit FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N11BQ |
| NTSB Number | CHI03LA224 |
| 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 | Aerostar |
| Aircraft Model | S81A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | S81A-3010 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3800 |
| 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 | 0 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Apr 9 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 23 |
| Airframe Hours | 196 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Balloon Quest Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 2470 Grange Hall Road |
| Aircraft Owner City | Fenton |
| Aircraft Owner State | MI |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 48430 |
| 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 | PVT |
| Departure City | Fenton |
| Departure State | MI |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 630 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | N/A |
| Destination City | Highland |
| Destination State | MI |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 7 2003 9:15AM |
| User who most recently changed record | SULP |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | Yes |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |