Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Ulysses Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Kendall, Kansas 67857
Sunday, October 2, 2005 16:19 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The balloon, USA-1, was participating in the Gordon Bennett race. It had been aloft for 22 hours and had traveled some 350 to 400 miles. Cruising about 35 mph in "smooth air" at 7,000 feet msl, it encountered "mid-afternoon dry thermals" and a "sudden and unexpected downdraft." The dry thermals forced the balloon into an "extreme" and uncontrolled descent. The veriometer "pegged" at 1,500 feet per minute descent. The crew attempted to arrest the descent rate by throwing ballast overboard, but was unsuccessful and the balloon collided with power lines. The entangled gondola severed the power lines and the balloon ascended rapidly. As it ascended, the gondola "pitched violently as much as 60 degrees" and the pilot fell out at a height approximately 30 to 40 feet. The balloon ascended with the copilot still on board. Using a satellite telephone, she notified the chase crew and gave them the location of the accident. The balloon ascended to 14,000 feet msl before the copilot was able to "[execute] a controlled descent." The balloon hit the ground hard approximately 8 miles from the accident site.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the downdraft forcing the balloon into the power lines. A contrbuting factor was the clear air turbulence and the power lines.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/2/2005 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1619 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | Kendall |
| Event State | KANSAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 67857 |
| Event Date Year | 2005 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 373623N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1012242W |
| Event Location Airport | Ulysses Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | ULS |
| 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 | 3207 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1654 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 75 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | GCK |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 2890 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 49 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| 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) | 34 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 9 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 180 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 25 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 29 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.83 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 19496 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Comm Ctr |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 25 2006 11:00AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Albuquerque Flight Standards District Office |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N96YD |
| NTSB Number | DEN06LA016 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Company VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Minor |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Abruzzo |
| Aircraft Model | Grom-1 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 798 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2438 |
| Aircraft Category | Balloon |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | Yes |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 0 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Conditional |
| Date of Last Inspection | Aug 1 2005 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 109.32 |
| Airframe Hours | 711.1 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Peak Express Balloon, INC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 6620 Paddington NE |
| Aircraft Owner City | Albuquerque |
| Aircraft Owner State | NM |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 87111 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Richard Abruzzo |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| 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) | Air Race/Show |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | -- |
| Departure City | Albuquerque |
| Departure State | NM |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1846 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Descent - uncontrolled |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 7 2008 1:48PM |
| User who most recently changed record | JOHB |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |