Auburn/Lewiston Muni Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Auburn, Maine 04210
Thursday, October 14, 2004 17:55 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

During the descent, the pilot elected to decelerate the balloon by brushing the basket through an apple tree. During the maneuver, a branch from the tree came in contact with one of the passenger's hands, cutting it. The accident was downgraded to an incident when it was learned that the passenger's injuries were minor.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's maneuver into a tree, which resulted in an inadvertent contact between a branch and a passenger.

Event Information

Type of Event Incident
Event Date 10/14/2004
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 1755
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City Auburn
Event State MAINE
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 04210
Event Date Year 2004
Event Date Month 10
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 440254N
Event Location Longitude 0701700W
Event Location Airport Auburn/Lewiston Muni Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID LEW
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles 5
Degrees magnetic from airport 230
Airport Elevation 288
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1835 Eastern Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 230
Weather Observation Facility ID LEW
Elevation of weather observation facility 288
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 5
Time Zone of the weather observation EDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
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) 13
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 9
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 100
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 5
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.7
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Minor
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor 1
Injury Total None 3
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 17572
NTSB Notification Source NROC
NTSB Notification Date Oct 14 2004 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1920
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Apr 28 2005 2:59PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\JOHB
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Portland

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number C-GGAX
NTSB Number IAD05IA004
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 Raven Industries
Aircraft Model S-60A
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number S60A-211
Certified Max Gross Weight 816
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 0
Number of Engines 0
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Jan 11 2003 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 54
Airframe Hours 221
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Great Canadian Hot Air Balloons
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Ottawa, Ontario
Aircraft Owner State --
Aircraft Owner Country CA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode K1H6K4
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Derald Young
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Dixfield
Operator State ME
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 04224
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 No
Departure Airport Code NONE
Departure City Lewiston
Departure State ME
Departure Country USA
Departure Time --
Departure Time Zone --
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 Cruise
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record --
User who most recently changed record --
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 --