Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Sauk Prairie Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Prairie Du Sac, Wisconsin 53583
Friday, August 3, 2012 20:40 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Before the flight, the pilot obtained a proper weather briefing, and the wind for the area of the flight was forecast to be about 7 knots and decreasing during the flight. The pilot stated that the wind was initially out of the east about 6 knots, but during the flight it had increased to about 15 knots. The pilot said that after 1 hour and 45 minutes of flight he encountered wind shear. He attempted to descend and maneuver the balloon to seek lower wind, but the terrain was “hilly,” which presented problems for landing due to wind “rotors” that could deform the balloon’s envelope. According to the pilot, as the balloon moved toward a nearby airport, where he hoped to land, a wind shear pushed the balloon’s envelope in. The pilot briefed the passengers before landing; however, the balloon’s gondola hit tree tops during the descent and began to tip. The pilot then shut off the burners and opened the balloon’s envelope vents to rapidly deflate the balloon, which would minimize the gondola being dragged after landing. During the landing, one of the passengers sustained a serious leg injury.
Although the wind at the accident site could not be determined, one of the passengers reported that his hand-held GPS device indicated a ground speed of 15 mph just before touchdown. Landing in higher wind conditions in a balloon typically results in the gondola tipping over and dragging as the envelope deflates and is pulled by the wind.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot’s loss of control of the balloon during a landing in higher-than-expected wind conditions, which resulted in a hard landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/3/2012 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 2040 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Prairie du Sac |
| Event State | WISCONSIN |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 53583 |
| Event Date Year | 2012 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 431852N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0894533W |
| Event Location Airport | Sauk Prairie |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 91C |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 832 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1935 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 355 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | DLL |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 979 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 13 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 10000 |
| 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) | 21 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 19 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 160 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.87 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | KDLL 032335Z AUTO 16010KT 10SM SCT100 SCT120 21/19 |
| 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 | 6 |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 31696 |
| 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 | Jul 31 2013 12:32PM |
| User who most recently changed record | bowl |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N3013T |
| NTSB Number | CEN12LA591 |
| 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 | ARBC INC DBA LINDSTRAND |
| Aircraft Model | 180A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 5453 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| Aircraft Category | Balloon |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | 1 |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | 6 |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 7 |
| Number of Engines | 0 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 115 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | TEED JEROME E |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 4014 SHADOWS CT |
| Aircraft Owner City | DE FOREST |
| Aircraft Owner State | WI |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 53532-2707 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Gentle Breezes Balloon Rides LLC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 4014 SHADOWS CT |
| Operator City | DE FOREST |
| Operator State | WI |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 53532-2707 |
| 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) | Business |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | 91C |
| Departure City | Sauk Prairie |
| Departure State | WI |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 2020 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | 91C |
| Destination City | Sauk Prairie |
| Destination State | WI |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 15 2013 10:13PM |
| User who most recently changed record | lema |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |