FAA incident report · Balloon Works FIREFLY 9B-15 · Beckinridge, CO · March 15, 1998
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.
Narrative: flight had ended safely with no damage. Rescue helicopter downwash blew balloon down the side of the mountain, destroying it.
NARRATIVE: FLIGHT HAD ENDED SAFELY WITH NO DAMAGE. RESCUE HELICOPTER DOWNWASH BLEW BALLOON DOWN THE SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN, DESTROYING IT.