Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
N/A Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Napa, California 94558
Sunday, December 29, 2013 8:30 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot was flying the balloon as a commercial revenue sight-seeing flight with 20 passengers on board. The pilot reported that during the inflation of the hot air balloon about 30 minutes prior to the accident, the weather was clear skies and calm wind.
The pilot reported that he was about 10 minutes behind the other balloons, so he was able to observe their flight path through the valley. Prior to the accident, the pilot noted the airspeed was about 16 miles per hour, which he thought unusual for the location of the flight. As he had observed the other balloonists do, he placed his balloon in a controlled descent, with the intent of traversing the same section of the valley as the other balloons. This part of the tour would take them over the vineyards and through the center of the valley. During the controlled descent, the pilot reported that it felt like the balloon was being pushed down, which he attributed to wind shear. The bottom portion of the balloon's basket subsequently contacted the top of a 30-foot wooden power pole and simultaneously the backside of the envelope was pushed toward the burners, which caused several structural panels to be burned. The pilot continued the flight for another 1.5 miles in order to make a safe landing in a park. The pilot landed the balloon without further incident.
The company indicated that the pilot received his weather briefing from the National Weather Service, but did not say at what time; only that the wind was calm. Thirty minutes before departure, recorded weather at a nearby airport indicated that the wind was calm. Approximately 30 minutes after the accident, the recorded weather at the same airport reported that the wind was from the west at 5 knots.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Failure to maintain clearance from obstacles during a descent that resulted in an inadvertent collision with a pole.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/29/2013 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 830 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | Napa |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 94558 |
| Event Date Year | 2013 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 381930N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1222034W |
| Event Location Airport | N/A |
| 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 | 8 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 335 |
| Airport Elevation | 35 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1554 Coordinated Universal Time? Same as GMT |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 155 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | APC |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 35 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 8 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | UTC |
| 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) | 4 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -1 |
| 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) | 30.14 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | METAR KAPC 291554Z 00000KT 10SM CLR 04/M01 A3014 R |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 21 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 32548 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA AWP Regional Operations Ce |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 31 2014 2:50PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N65298 |
| NTSB Number | WPR14CA097 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Unknown |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | CAMERON BALLOONS US |
| Aircraft Model | A-400 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | NO SERIES |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 6694 |
| 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 | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Mar 8 2013 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 90 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | BALLOONS ABOVE THE VALLEY |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | NAPA |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 945593131 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | BALLOONS ABOVE THE VALLEY |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | NAPA |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 945593131 |
| 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) | Business |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | -- |
| Departure City | Napa |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 823 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Napa |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 31 2014 2:50PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| 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 | -- |