Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Wausau, Wisconsin 54401
Saturday, July 24, 2004 19:00 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot suffered a broken leg when the hot air balloon experienced a hard landing due to gusty winds. The balloon was not damaged. The pilot reported a normal ascent and smooth flight for the first 5 minutes. She stated that the balloon then encountered turbulence. Initially the balloon climbed at 800 feet per minute (fpm) on a north-northwesterly heading, before switching to a southeasterly heading about 1,800 feet agl. Shortly afterward the balloon began to descend at 800 fpm. When the balloon reached an altitude of 100 feet agl the pilot attempted a normal landing. She estimated the wind was about 3 miles per hour toward the east-southeast. During the landing attempt, the pilot reported that a wind gust lifted the balloon up and over some trees and across a road. She noted that the balloon subsequently landed normally in a "swampy" area. However, before she could alert the ground crew a wind gust lifted the balloon to about 250 feet agl. The balloon subsequently traveled across a road and dropped into a hay field. She reported that she broke her leg during the hard landing. The pilot stated that because the envelope was partially deflated at this point, she did not have time to use the airborne heater to soften the impact. The balloon was dragged by the wind until she could retrieve the vent line to fully deflate the envelope. The pilot stated that she had obtained a pre-flight weather briefing from Green Bay Automated Flight Service Station. She also reported that they had launched several PIBAL's (pilot balloon observation) to check upper level winds prior to launch.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's inability to compensation for the turbulence and wind conditions. Contributing factors were the variable winds and the turbulence.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/24/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1900 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Wausau |
| Event State | WISCONSIN |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 54401 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 445534N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0893756W |
| 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 | 1854 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | AUW |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1201 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 4700 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| 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) | 5 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 360 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.08 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | METAR KAUW 242354Z AUTO 36006KT 10SM BKN047 OVC060 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 16471 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 25 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1200 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 28 2004 10:11AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | FAA-Milwaukee FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N7144Y |
| NTSB Number | CHI04CA191 |
| 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 | RX-7 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | RX7-3318 |
| 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 | -- |
| Number of Engines | 0 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Oct 11 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 39 |
| Airframe Hours | 325 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Jane A. Jacobson |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 3006 Vern Lane |
| Aircraft Owner City | Weston |
| Aircraft Owner State | WI |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 54476 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Airport Code | -- |
| Departure City | Wausau |
| Departure State | WI |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1850 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Wausau |
| Destination State | WI |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 18 2004 2:39PM |
| User who most recently changed record | DINC |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |