FAA incident report · Balwks FIREFLY 7 · Madera, CA · May 30, 1988
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.
The FAA’s narrative, in sentence case. The FAA writes it in capitals and removes private details.
Balloon encountered downdraft which PIC stated unable to overcome. Touched powerlines interrupting service briefly.
BALLOON ENCOUNTERED DOWNDRAFT WHICH PIC STATED UNABLE TO OVERCOME. TOUCHED POWERLINES INTERRUPTING SERVICE BRIEFLY.