Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Ft Collins-Loveland Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Windsor, Colorado 80550
Monday, June 24, 2013 8:40 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot said there had been very little wind when he had launched in his balloon earlier and his flight at about 1,000 feet above ground level (agl) was normal. He reported that there was very little wind until he descended to about 300 feet agl when the wind began to interfere. The pilot advised all passengers to lower themselves inside the basket and to brace themselves for a hard landing. The passengers advised that the balloon basket hit the ground “very hard” and bounced several times before hitting the slope side of a dirt hill where the basket flipped onto its side and was dragged in the dirt in that tipped-over position. The total distance from first impact to the balloon's final resting location was estimated at about 1,300 feet. The impact resulted in substantial damage to the main basket, the basket partitions, and substantial damage to the burner cage.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilots’ encounter with increased wind, which resulted in a hard and fast landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/24/2013 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 840 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | Windsor |
| Event State | COLORADO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 80550 |
| Event Date Year | 2013 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 402622N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1045835W |
| Event Location Airport | Ft Collins-Loveland Municipal |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | FNL |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 5016 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 835 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 280 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KFNL |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 5016 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| 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) | 21 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 10 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 170 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 16 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 20 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.93 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | KFNL 241455Z AUTO 17015G18KT 10SM CLR 22/10 A2993 |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 7 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 2 |
| Injury Total All | 9 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 31841 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA ANM Regl Opns Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 11 2013 4:37PM |
| User who most recently changed record | bowl |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N1235J |
| NTSB Number | CEN13CA372 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Unknown |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Minor |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | KUBICEK |
| Aircraft Model | BB70Z |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 906 |
| 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 | 12 |
| Number of Engines | 0 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Apr 4 2013 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 18 |
| Airframe Hours | 62 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | JOSEPH R HART |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | LONGMONT |
| Aircraft Owner State | CO |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 80502 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | LONGMONT HOT AIR BALLOON LLC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | LONGMONT |
| Operator State | CO |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 80502 |
| 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 | NONE |
| Departure City | LONGMONT |
| Departure State | CO |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | NONE |
| Destination City | WINDSOR |
| Destination State | CO |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 25 2013 11:31PM |
| User who most recently changed record | latt |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | Yes |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |