19810322021319I

Incident · Minor damage

FAA incident report · Raven S55A · Rio Rancho, NM · March 22, 1981

Date
March 22, 1981 · 08:30 local
Place
Rio Rancho, NM
Phase of flight
Level Off Touchdown
Operating rules
General operating rules (Part 91)
Damage
Minor damage
Aircraft
N51554
Reported as
Raven S55A
People aboard
1
Fatal injuries
0
Pilot’s flight hours
59 total59 in this make and model10 in the last 90 days

From the FAA’s Accident/Incident Data System (AIDS), through its Aviation Safety Information Portal, as reported. The NTSB investigates accidents separately, and its record of an accident is the fuller one. The aircraft is matched to the registry by N-number and event date, checked against the reported make and model; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.

What happened

The FAA’s narrative, in sentence case. The FAA writes it in capitals and removes private details.

Balloon shot upward just as landing preparations were started. Balloon collided with powerlines.

As the FAA filed it

BALLOON SHOT UPWARD JUST AS LANDING PREPARATIONS WERE STARTED. BALLOON COLLIDED WITH POWERLINES.