Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Albuquerque, New Mexico 87122
Tuesady, October 9, 2007 9:20 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The balloon was participating in the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. The pilot said she flew between 200 and 400 feet agl (above ground level) for the first 15 minutes, then flew between 1,000 and 1,500 feet for about an hour. She said low level winds were from the south, and she flew "far enough north to have open landing areas to the south." She then descended to 200 feet and flew south. The wind speed was between 5 and 10 knots. She selected a "short open area" but there was a fence and the winds were "too fast" to land. "At 100 feet agl, had false heavy" (sic) and wind velocity had increased 15 to 20 knots. The balloon landed on the north side of 100 acres of desert. bounced, and was dragged 150 to 200 feet. The pilot noted that "at the time of launch, the winds were calm but that condition changed unexpectedly. I took the best landing site available at the time." Beyond that point was a congested housing area, a mesa, and a national park. The latter had an uneven lava bed with ravines, trees, and boulders and probably high wind velocities. The pilot told the police department that she had flown south, then west. On approach to the selected landing spot, a gust of wind caused the balloon to drift in the wrong direction and it struck a wall in a residential area. The police report indicated the pilot had fractured her pelvic bone.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's inability to maintain aircraft control due to high winds, resulting in the aircraft coming in contact with an arroyo and a wall in a residential area.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/9/2007 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 920 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | Albuquerque |
| Event State | NEW MEXICO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 87122 |
| Event Date Year | 2007 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 351300N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1071500W |
| 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 | |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | ABQ |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 5355 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | -- |
| 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) | 10 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -2 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 20 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.39 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 3 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 22983 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Bruce Jeffcoat, ABQ FSDO |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 9 2007 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 30 2008 4:08PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Albuquerque, New Mexico |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N5315M |
| NTSB Number | DEN08LA007 |
| 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 | Aerostar |
| Aircraft Model | RX 8 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | RX8-3355 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1480 |
| 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 | -- |
| Number of Engines | -- |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jun 1 2007 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 175 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | -- |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | -- |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Denise Despres |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 2 Corte de Canoncito |
| Aircraft Owner City | Cedar Crest |
| Aircraft Owner State | NM |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 87008 |
| 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) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | NONE |
| Departure City | Albuquerque |
| Departure State | NM |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 800 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | NONE |
| Destination City | Albuquerque |
| Destination State | NM |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 15 2008 3:16PM |
| User who most recently changed record | BOWL |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |