Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Del Mar, California 92130
Sunday, May 8, 2005 19:30 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The balloon landed hard in rough, uneven terrain injuring one of the nine passengers. After departure the balloon drifted in a south easterly direction between the altitudes of 500 feet and 2,000 feet above ground level for a period of 40 minutes. The pilot briefed the passengers for landing, flew over some power lines, and landed in a construction site. The balloon had a high rate of descent when it landed and bounced, followed by a second touchdown bounce, and then came to rest. The injured passenger stated that they received a good briefing from the pilot prior to landing. She said that they landed hard in uneven terrain, bounced, landed hard a second time, bounced, and then the basket came to rest lopsided on a hillside. She said she fractured her tibia and fibula during the second landing bounce. She said she was prepared for the first landing but did not expect the bounce and second landing touchdown. The pilot indicated in the accident report that there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures with the balloon.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to arrest the high rate of descent and an inadequate bounced landing recovery technique. a factor in the accident was the rough, uneven terrain.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/8/2005 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1930 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Del Mar |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 92130 |
| Event Date Year | 2005 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 325768N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1171185W |
| 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 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 170 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KSAN |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 17 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 16 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Dusk |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 2200 |
| 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) | 17 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 11 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 300 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.03 |
| 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 | -- |
| Injury Total None | 9 |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 21083 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 8 2005 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 26 2007 9:33AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\lema |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | San Diego, CA |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N3002J |
| NTSB Number | LAX05LA162 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | None |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Ultramagic |
| Aircraft Model | N-250 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | S#250-14 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 4200 |
| 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 | 15 |
| Number of Engines | 0 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 1 2004 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 98 |
| Airframe Hours | 490 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | -- |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | -- |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Jamie Charland |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Albuquerque |
| Aircraft Owner State | NM |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 87105 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Dick B Cochran |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Bakersfield |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 93306 |
| 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 | Rancho Santa Fe |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1850 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Del Mar |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 31 2007 12:29PM |
| 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 | -- |