N/A Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Albuquerque, New Mexico 87106
Saturday, October 5, 2013 7:05 MDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot took off with several other balloons as part of that day's Dawn Patrol flight at the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. Throughout the flight, the pilot changed altitude several times to find an average wind between 18 and 26 mph. The sun was coming up, and the pilot saw other Dawn Patrol pilots starting to land. As he descended to near-treetop level for his landing approach to a golf course, the balloon experienced a false heavy condition (when descending into a faster moving air mass or wind shear, the air flow over the balloon pulls the balloon down) in which the balloon descended sooner than the pilot wanted. He applied the burners to avoid a house and power lines. As the balloon came back down, the pilot saw that the wind was about 22 mph. The pilot and the two passengers got down in the basket in preparation for the high-wind landing. About 20 feet above the ground, the pilot shut off the burners, pulled open the vent, and the balloon hit the ground flat and square. The basket tipped over and dragged about 25 feet before stopping. About 13 minutes before the accident the weather conditions at the nearest aviation weather station included wind from 360 degrees at 9 knots.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's decision to land the balloon from a high approach altitude due to high winds, which resulted in a hard landing.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 10/5/2013
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 705
Event Time Zone Mountain Daylight Time
Event City Albuquerque
Event State NEW MEXICO
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 87106
Event Date Year 2013
Event Date Month 10
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 350505N
Event Location Longitude 1063904W
Event Location Airport N/A
Event Location Nearest Airport ID --
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport --
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 652 Mountain Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 180
Weather Observation Facility ID ABQ
Elevation of weather observation facility --
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 14
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) 5
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 2
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 360
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 9
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.3
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) 32172
NTSB Notification Source FAA, Albuquerque Flight Standa
NTSB Notification Date --
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information --
Date of most recent change to record Oct 31 2013 2:25PM
User who most recently changed record linj-i
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N4113T
NTSB Number CEN14LA005
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 CAMERON
Aircraft Model N105 - NO SERIES
Aircraft Series Identifier NO SERIES
Aircraft Serial Number 6072
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 --
Number of Engines --
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection --
Date of Last Inspection --
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name TAYLOR-CHRISTENSEN TIM
Aircraft Owner Street Address 6531 CANYON COVE DR
Aircraft Owner City SALT LAKE CITY
Aircraft Owner State UT
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 841216340
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name TAYLOR-CHRISTENSEN TIM
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address 6531 CANYON COVE DR
Operator City SALT LAKE CITY
Operator State UT
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 841216340
Operator Code --
Owner has at least one certificate None
Other Operator of large aircraft? --
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 Yes
Departure Airport Code --
Departure City Albuquerque
Departure State NM
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 615
Departure Time Zone MDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code --
Destination City Albuquerque
Destination State NM
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Nov 5 2013 10:40AM
User who most recently changed record bowl
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location N/A
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --