Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Sandown, New Hampshire 03873
Friday, September 12, 2008 7:30 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
According to the balloon pilot, he had checked several weather sources and sent up several helium balloons to check local winds. The flight path and speed of the test balloons confirmed the weather forecasts obtained earlier, and he saw no significant winds either on the ground or aloft. Early in the flight, the pilot noticed that the winds aloft had increased significantly. He descended to assess how close to the ground the increased winds were, so that he could start to plan for a landing. As the balloon came close to treetop level, he experienced increased wind speeds, and decided to land as soon as possible. The pilot prepared the passengers for a fast, hard, drag landing. As he approached the landing site, he allowed the balloon basket to drag through the top of trees in an effort to reduce speed. The pilot estimated that they decreased their horizontal balloon speed by 50 percent. Once clear of the trees, and over the landing site, he vented the balloon to facilitate a fast descent into the field. He informed the passengers that they would have a very hard landing and warned them to get ready for impact. Two passengers had squatted in the balloon to avoid contact with the treetops, and never returned to the correct landing position, as previously instructed by the pilot. Those passengers sustained serious injuries during the hard landing. The reported wind at a nearby airport, about 30 minutes prior to the accident, was from 190 degrees at 5 knots. Examination of the balloon revealed minor damage to the basket and no preimpact structural or mechanical failures.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot’s encounter with high winds during approach. Contributing to the severity of injuries was the passengers' improper landing preparation.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/12/2008 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 730 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Sandown |
| Event State | NEW HAMPSHIRE |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 03873 |
| Event Date Year | 2008 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 425543N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0711113W |
| 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 | 653 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 270 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MHT |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 266 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 10 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 6500 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 13 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 11 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 190 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.19 |
| 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 | 5 |
| Injury Total Serious | 2 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 24533 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA New England Region ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 23 2008 9:17AM |
| User who most recently changed record | grer |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N151TS |
| NTSB Number | MIA08CA193 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Minor |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cameron Balloons |
| Aircraft Model | Z-150 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 6485 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3000 |
| 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 | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | May 11 2008 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 148 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | High 5 Hot Air Ballooning LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Derry |
| Aircraft Owner State | NH |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 03038 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | Anthony T. Sica |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Derry |
| Operator State | NH |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 03038 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| 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 | None |
| Departure City | Salem |
| Departure State | NH |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 630 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | None |
| Destination City | Sandown |
| Destination State | NH |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 23 2008 8:46AM |
| User who most recently changed record | grer |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | Yes |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |