Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Mecca, California 92274
Friday, April 13, 2007 8:00 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The balloon pilot was conducting a for-hire sightseeing balloon ride to five tourists. The pilot had received a weather briefing that stated winds at the closest airport, 7 miles away, were 310 degrees at 11 knots. The next closest airport, about 20 miles away was reporting winds 310 degrees at 12 knots gusting to 18 knots. The forecast for the area had occasional gusty surface winds up to 25 knots. Winds aloft, up to 9,000 feet, were from the north between 15 and 29 knots. The balloon flight manual states that the maximum surface wind speed for takeoff and landing is 15 knots. The pilot determined that the winds at the first takeoff location were not favorable, and took the balloon party to a second location. At the second takeoff location the pilot noted the winds by looking at treetop and had the balloon inflated. He had the passengers load into the basket. Once airborne he stated that the flight will be shorter than usual because of the winds. In fact the balloon had covered the distance that usually takes 1 hour in about 20 minutes. The pilot gave a prelanding briefing to the passengers, and prepared them for a faster than normal landing. The winds in the landing area were 10 knots with gusts between 15 and 20 knots, which were above the balloon's recommended landing wind limit. As the pilot directed the balloon into the selected landing zone, the balloon began to descend more rapidly than the pilot could compensate for and headed directly for a row of electrical power lines. During the landing approach the basket overhead structure struck and broke through a section of electrical power lines. The balloon basket continued its descent, impacted the ground hard, bounced up, impacted the ground a second time, and ejected two passengers in the direction the balloon was traveling. The basket landed on one of the ejected passengers and then was drug along the ground a few feet further before coming to a complete stop.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's decision to fly in forecasted unfavorable wind conditions that exceeded the balloon's capabilities.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/13/2007 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 800 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Mecca |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 92274 |
| Event Date Year | 2007 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 333200N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1161054W |
| 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 | 752 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 360 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KTRM |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 5 |
| 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) | 20 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -4 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 330 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 13 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 23 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.02 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 4 |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 22783 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Apr 13 2007 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 20 2007 6:59AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP Riverside FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N156LB |
| NTSB Number | LAX07LA126 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | ARBC Inc |
| Aircraft Model | 150A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 5168 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3190 |
| 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 | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 0 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Mar 1 2007 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 6 |
| Airframe Hours | 646 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Balloon Above The Desert, Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 23232 Ave 44 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Indio |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 92201 |
| 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 | Indio |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 730 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Mecca |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 30 2007 2:09PM |
| 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 | -- |