# Incident 19970119008869I: Thundr AX8105, Las Cruces, NM, January 19, 1997

- Type: FAA incident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: January 19, 1997, 09:00 local time
- Place: Las Cruces, NM
- Phase of flight: Final Approach
- Operating rules: General operating rules (Part 91)
- Location: 32.3123° N, 106.7783° W: Placed by OpenAirDocs: center of Las Cruces, NM, within about 6 miles (OpenAirDocs)
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=32.3123&lon=-106.7783&mi=10
- Aircraft: N826TC, registered now (https://openairdocs.org/aircraft/N826TC) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry model: Thunder & Colt Airborne Amer AX8-108 S.1 (registry code 2301230, https://openairdocs.org/model/thunder-colt-airborne-amer-ax8-108-s-1) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry engine: NONE (registry code 00000, https://openairdocs.org/engine/none) (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported make and model: THUNDR AX8105
- People aboard: 4
- Fatal injuries: 0
- Pilot flight hours: 831 total, 50 in this make and model, 20 in the last 90 days
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/19970119008869I

## Narrative

As the FAA filed it, in capitals; the FAA replaces private details with ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^.

NARRATIVE: ON 01/19/97 AM MST, A THUNDER COLT AX8-108 HOT AIR BALLOON (N826TC) CONTACTED POWERLINES WHILE LANDING. THE INCIDENT OCCURRED IN A PLOWED FIELD, APPROXIMATELY 3/4 MILE SOUTH OF INTERSTATE 10 AND EAST OF THE RIO GRANDE RIVER IN LAS CRUCES, NM. THE AIRCRAFT HAD PARTICIPATED IN A PLEASURE FLIGHT. THE PILOT STATED HE DID NOT SEE THE POWERLINES UNTIL IT WAS TOO LATE TO AVOID STRIKING THEM. THE LINES WERE ABANDONED, AND THERE WAS NO ELECTRICAL POWER PRESENT, WHICH PRECLUDED DAMAGE TO THE AIRCRAFT OR INJURY TO THE OCCUPANTS. THE AIRCRAFT IS REGISTERED TO SCOTT F. VISNIEWSKI, ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^ VISUAL METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS PREVAILED AND NO FLIGHT PLAN HAD BEEN FILED. MR. VISNIEWSKI HOLDS A U.S. COMMERCIAL PILOT CERTIFICATE #570569928.

From the FAA Accident/Incident Data System. Reports are matched to registry aircraft 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. For accidents, the NTSB's own investigation is the fuller record.

---
OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.