Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
None Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Questa, New Mexico 87556
Sunday, March 30, 2008 8:30 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The commercial pilot stated that he and the five passengers departed in his hot air balloon and drifted down a local gorge. The flight was normal until it was time to land. As the pilot descended to a large open grass field (where he has landed many times before), he told the passengers that they should bend their knees. When the balloon was about 20 feet agl, a large gust of wind caused the balloon to descend rapidly with a forward motion until it hit the ground. The impact was hard enough to eject four of the passengers and to break one of the burner can mounts, which caused it to point downward. The balloon then caught fire as it ascended approximately 30 feet high with the pilot and one of the passengers still onboard. The pilot said the he attempted to turn off the pilot light to the burner cans, but to no avail. He told the passenger not to jump, because the balloon was now starting to descend. The balloon then hit the ground again hard, and the pilot and the passenger were ejected. The balloon then bounced a few more times as it traveled north towards rising terrain where it became fully engulfed in flames and was incinerated. The pilot said that before the flight, he obtained weather information from the local airports and also released pilot balloons to determine wind direction. The winds were calm at the beginning of the flight and then "arced" toward the north-northwest while en route; however, he did not know the speed of the wind. Other wise, the weather as clear of clouds and unlimited visibility. The pilot stated that the balloon most likely encountered a roll cloud from the nearby ridge.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The balloon's encounter with a wind gust/downdraft during landing, which resulted in a hard landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/30/2008 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 830 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | Questa |
| Event State | NEW MEXICO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 87556 |
| Event Date Year | 2008 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 364223N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1053535W |
| Event Location Airport | None |
| 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 | 1435 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 200 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SKX |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 7095 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 15 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MDT |
| 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) | 9 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -6 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 220 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.01 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 5 |
| Injury Total All | 6 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 23748 |
| NTSB Notification Source | ABQ FSDO |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 31 2008 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 30 2008 11:48AM |
| 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 | N72345 |
| NTSB Number | DFW08LA088 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Balloon Works |
| Aircraft Model | Firefly 9 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | F9-074 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| 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 | 0 |
| Number of Engines | 0 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Nov 1 2007 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 443 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Pueblo Balloon Company |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | -- |
| Aircraft Owner State | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Country | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | -- |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | -- |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | El Prado |
| Operator State | NM |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 87529 |
| 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) | Aerial Observation |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | NONE |
| Departure City | Taos |
| Departure State | NM |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 730 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Questa |
| Destination State | NM |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 5 2008 9:13AM |
| User who most recently changed record | GAMW |
| 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 | -- |