Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Grants Pass, Oregon 97526
Friday, June 18, 2010 8:20 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
During the post-landing, pre-deflation portion of a hot air balloon flight, the basket of the balloon began to lift off the ground when one of the individuals holding it released their grip on the top rim of the basket. At that point, the remaining three individuals holding the basket released their grip on the top rim of the basket and the balloon began to ascend. As the basket lifted higher into the air, one of the individuals who had released their grip on the basket top rim grabbed onto the rope handles near the base of the basket and was therefore lifted about 20 feet into the air. As soon as the pilot realized that someone was hanging from the bottom of the basket, he began venting air from the top of the balloon in order to get the basket back on the ground. But the individual hanging from the rope handles lost his grip and fell to grassy terrain below. The injured person had extensive experience acting as a balloon ground crew member and as a passenger in a balloon. He had no memory of the event, and it could not be determined why he grabbed onto the rope handles after releasing his grip from the basket rim.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The balloon ground crew member's decision to not release his hold on the basket of an ascending hot air balloon basket as it lifted off of the ground.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/18/2010 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 820 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Grants Pass |
| Event State | OREGON |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 97526 |
| Event Date Year | 2010 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 422541N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1232325W |
| 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 | Pilot |
| Time of the weather observation | |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | -- |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | -- |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 3900 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| 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) | 8 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 4 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| 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) | 27535 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 21 2010 5:08PM |
| User who most recently changed record | lema |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N501LB |
| NTSB Number | WPR10LA300 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | None |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | ARBC INC DBA LINDSTRAND |
| Aircraft Model | 120A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 5426 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2640 |
| 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 | Apr 6 2010 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 71 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | HIS SKY MINISTRIES |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1252 REDWOOD AVE # 46 |
| Aircraft Owner City | GRANTS PASS |
| Aircraft Owner State | OR |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 97527-5592 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | HIS SKY MINISTRIES |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 1252 REDWOOD AVE # 46 |
| Operator City | GRANTS PASS |
| Operator State | OR |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 97527-5592 |
| 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) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | -- |
| Departure City | Grants Pass |
| Departure State | OR |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 645 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Grants Pass |
| Destination State | OR |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 28 2010 6:34PM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |