Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Huntersville, North Carolina 28078
Saturday, July 10, 2004 20:20 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
According to the pilot, he had obtained a weather briefing and had departed from a field. The balloon had drifted east at about two miles per hour. He stated that after about 30 minutes the wind began increasing to a speed of around 15 to 18 miles per hour, and he began looking for a place to land. He stated he bypassed several fields before he found a large open construction site. He started a descent towards the field and instructed his passengers to get down and brace for a hard landing. He said that just at touchdown the balloon caught a gust of wind and hit a small mound of dirt causing the basket to overturn and the pilot and passengers to tumble out. The basket was dragged several feet before it came to a complete stop. The balloon and basket were not damaged.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Gusty weather conditions which resulted in an in-flight collision with terrain during touchdown.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/10/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 2020 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Huntersville |
| Event State | NORTH CAROLINA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 28078 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 352443N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0805053W |
| 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 | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1951 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 90 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | CLT |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 748 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 10 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 20000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 4000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| 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) | 29 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 21 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| 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 | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 7 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 8 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 18080 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Attorney |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 13 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1000 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 13 2005 12:54PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Charlotte FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N91101 |
| NTSB Number | ATL04LA198 |
| 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 | Thunder & Colt LTD |
| Aircraft Model | 210A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 2470 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2000 |
| Aircraft Category | Balloon |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 1 |
| Number of Engines | 0 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Unknown |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Daniel W. Stone |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 3709 Sweetgrass Ln |
| Aircraft Owner City | Charlotte |
| Aircraft Owner State | NC |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 28226 |
| 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) | Business |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | -- |
| Departure City | Cornelius |
| Departure State | NC |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1950 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| 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 |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 20 2005 12:51PM |
| User who most recently changed record | POWP |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | Yes |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |