Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Saint Helena, California 94574
Wednesday, April 13, 2005 8:00 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The balloon touched down hard at the conclusion of a sightseeing flight seriously injuring one of the eight fare-paying passengers. The pilot indicated that upon entering a wider area of the Napa Valley the winds aloft should have slowed, but they did not. Therefore, he decided to land as soon as possible, having the belief that the wind speed might increase if he continued the flight. During the descent to an open field, the balloon drifted over a row of estimated 30- to 40-foot-tall trees, and the wind speed suddenly increased to between 10 and 12 miles per hour. The pilot advised the passengers to prepare for a possible hard touchdown, and during the final seconds of the flight, he used both burners at maximum power to slow the descent rate. However, a windshear was encountered, and the balloon abruptly descended.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's encounter with wind shear during landing, which resulted in a hard touchdown.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/13/2005 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 800 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Saint Helena |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 94574 |
| Event Date Year | 2005 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 383312N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1222954W |
| 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 | 753 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 250 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | STS |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 125 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 15 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| 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) | 3 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 3 |
| 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) | 30.17 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | METAR KSTS 131453Z 00000KT 10SM CLR 03/03 A3017 RM |
| 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 | 8 |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 19375 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Apr 29 2005 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1304 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 28 2006 1:55PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Sacramento, CA |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N15001 |
| NTSB Number | LAX05LA143 |
| 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 | Firefly Balloon, Inc. |
| Aircraft Model | Firefly 11 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | F11-2001 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3940 |
| 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 | Aug 1 2004 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 34 |
| Airframe Hours | 169 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | -- |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | -- |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Calistoga Balloons, LLC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. Box 858 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Calistoga |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 94515 |
| 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) | Other Work Use |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | -- |
| Departure City | Calistoga |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 700 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Saint Helena |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing - flare/touchdown |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 5 2006 6:01PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | Yes |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |