19820306009669I

Incident · Destroyed

FAA incident report · Balwks FIREFLY 7 · Los Gatos, CA · March 6, 1982

Date
March 6, 1982 · 12:30 local
Place
Los Gatos, CA
Phase of flight
Other Ground Ops
Operating rules
General operating rules (Part 91)
Damage
Destroyed
Aircraft
N40410
Reported as
Balwks FIREFLY7
People aboard
2
Fatal injuries
0
Pilot’s flight hours
993 total200 in this make and model30 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.

Moored balloon hit by sudden gust. Mooring ropes broken, pilot unable to deflate. Balloon hit wall, trees.

As the FAA filed it

MOORED BALLOON HIT BY SUDDEN GUST. MOORING ROPES BROKEN, PILOT UNABLE TO DEFLATE. BALLOON HIT WALL, TREES.