Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Clermont, Florida 34714
Monday, April 16, 2012 8:15 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

At the completion of a balloon flight, the balloon touched down while moving at 4 mph and bounced. An adult passenger did not maintain her grip on the hand-holds and fell into another passenger, breaking that passenger’s wrist. According to the operator, the multi-passenger, partition-basket balloon was used for sightseeing flights. The passengers were given a briefing card and briefed at the operator's facility before being bused to the launch site, where a more detailed briefing was provided by the balloon’s pilot. The items briefed included the location of hand-holds and the proper stance at touchdown.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The balloon passenger's failure to maintain her grip during landing, which resulted in a fall and injury to another passenger.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 4/16/2012
Event Day of the Week Monday
Time of Event 815
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City Clermont
Event State FLORIDA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 34714
Event Date Year 2012
Event Date Month 4
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 283302N
Event Location Longitude 0814609W
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 --
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) --
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 270
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 3
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
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 2
Injury Total Serious 1
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 30129
NTSB Notification Source Pilot
NTSB Notification Date --
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information --
Date of most recent change to record Aug 30 2012 9:23PM
User who most recently changed record snyg
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N990BR
NTSB Number ERA12CA328
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? No
Damage None
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name ULTRAMAGIC
Aircraft Model N425
Aircraft Series Identifier NO SERIES
Aircraft Serial Number N425-52
Certified Max Gross Weight 8183
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 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Nov 29 2011 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 50
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type Unknown
Aircraft Owner Name Ian R. Swift
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Clermont
Aircraft Owner State FL
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 34714
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Damien Mahony
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Orlando
Operator State FL
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 32806
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 Non-scheduled
Indicates Domestic or International Flight Domestic
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail --
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) Business
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code --
Departure City Orlando
Departure State FL
Departure Country USA
Departure Time --
Departure Time Zone --
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code --
Destination City Clermont
Destination State FL
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jul 11 2012 2:19PM
User who most recently changed record gots
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 --