# Accident 20010715016969A: Arostr RXS8, Flemington, NJ, July 15, 2001 - Type: FAA accident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported - Date: July 15, 2001, 20:00 local time - Place: Flemington, NJ - Phase of flight: Forced Landing - Operating rules: General operating rules (Part 91) - Location: 40.5086° N, 74.8599° W: Placed by OpenAirDocs: center of Flemington, NJ, within about 6 miles (OpenAirDocs) - Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=40.5086&lon=-74.8599&mi=10 - Aircraft: N7106F, a cancelled registration (https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N7106F-2020-09-04) (OpenAirDocs) - Registry model: Aerostar International RXS-8 (registry code 7487009, https://openairdocs.org/model/aerostar-international-rxs-8) (OpenAirDocs) - Registry engine: NONE (registry code 00000, https://openairdocs.org/engine/none) (OpenAirDocs) - Reported make and model: AROSTR RXS8 - People aboard: 1 - Fatal injuries: 0 - Pilot flight hours: 249 total, 10 in the last 90 days - NTSB investigation: [NTSB IAD01LA080](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/IAD01LA080) (OpenAirDocs) - FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/) - Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/20010715016969A ## Narrative As the FAA filed it, in capitals; the FAA replaces private details with ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^. (.19) ON JULY 15, 2001, AT 2015 EASTERN DAYLIGHT TIME, AN AEROSTAR INTERNATIONAL, INC, RXS-8 BALLOON, N7106F, WAS NOT DAMAGED DURING A HARD LANDING TO A DRY POND BED IN FLEMINGTON, NEW JERSEY. THE CERTIFICATED COMMERCIAL PILOT WAS NOT INJURED AND THE THREE PASSENGERS SUSTAINED SERIOUS INJURIES. VISUAL METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS PREVAILED AND NO FLIGHT PLAND WAS FILED FOR THE SIGHTSEEING FLIGHT CONDUCTED UNDER 14 CFR PART 91. IN A TELEPHONE CONVERSATION, THE PILOT STATED THAT HE OBTAINED A WEATHER BRIEFING PRIOR TO DEPARTURE. HE REPORTED THAT THE WINDS WERE LESS THAN 8 KNOTS, AND THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY WAS NOT FORECASTED. THE PILOT REPORTED SEEING HEAVY CLOUDS IN THE AREA PRIOR TO TAKE-OFF, BUT THOUGHT THEY WERE FROM WEATHER ACTIVITY THAT OCCURRED EARLIER IN THE DAY. ABOUT 45 MINUTES INTO THE FLIGHT, AN "UNFORECASTED STORM" CAUSED THE WIND SPEED TO INCREASE AND SHIFT DIRECTION. THE BALLOON ENCOUNTERED VERTICAL WIND SHEAR, AND THE PILOT MADE THREE ATTEMPTS TO LAND THE BALLOON ABOUT 1/4 MILE FROM HIS INTENDED DESTINATION. ON THE FOURTH ATTEMPT, THE BALLOON CONTINUED TO EXPERIENCE WIND SHEAR AND CLIPPED A TRE. ONCE THE BALLOON CLEARED THE TREE, IT DESCENDED TO THE GROUND AND "LA NDED HARD." THE PILOT DESCRIBED THE LANDING AS A "HARD HIT, AND THE PASSENGERS WERE THROWN AROUND." ONCE ON THE GROUND, THE BASKET DRAGGED FOR ABOUT 50 FEET, AND REMAINED UPRIGHT. THE PILOT DID NOT RECALL HIS VERTICAL RATE OF DESCENT, BUT ESTIMATED THAT THE WIND SPEED WAS ABOUT 18 KNOTS. THE PILOT PREPARED THE PASSENGERS FOR LANDING BY HAVING THEM CROUCH LOW IN THE BASKET. HE STATED THAT THERE ARE NO "GOOD OR STANDARD PROCEDURES" THAT PREPARE BALLOON PASSENGERS FOR A HARD LANDING, EXCEPT TO GET LOW AND TO KEEP YOUR HANDS INSIDE THE BASKET. THE PILOT SAID THAT THE PASSENGERS FOLLOWED HIS INSTRUCTIONS TO THE BEST OF THEIR ABILITY. A FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION INSPECTOR PERFORMED AN ON-SCENE EXAMINATION OF THE BALLOON. ACCORDING TO THE INSPECTOR, THE BALLOON DID NOT SUSTAIN ANY DAMAGE. THE PILOT REPORTED A TOTAL OF 235 FLIGHT HOURS, OF WHICH 179 HOURS WERE IN MAKE AND MODEL. WEATHER AT SOMERSET AIRPORT, SOMERSET, NEW JERSEY, AT 1953M WAS REPORTED AS WINDS FROM 300 DEGREES AT 5 KNOTS, VISIBILITY 10 MILES, AND CLEAR SKIES. (-23) PILOT DEPARTED NEW JERSEY RT. 78, EXIT 11, BEHIND THE MOUNT CHALLENTER RESTAURANT AT 7PM WITH THREE PASSENGERS ON BOARD. THE PILOT OF THE BALLO ON FLEW AROUND FOR ABOUT 45 MINUTES WHEN THE WIND SHIFTED AND THE WIND SPEED INCREASED. HE THEN TRIED TO MAKE A LANDING AND WAS UNABLE TO. HE MADE TWO OTHER UNSUCCESSFUL ATTEMPTS. ON HIS FOURTH ATTEMPT, HE LANDED HARD IN A FIELD. HIS THREE PASSENGERS RECEIVED SERIOUS INJURIES DURING THE LANDING. (.4) ON JULY 15, 2001, AT 2000 EASTERN DAYLIGHT TIME, AN AEROSTAR INTERNATIONAL, INC. RXS-8 BALLOON, N7106F, WAS NOT DAMAGED DURING A HARD LANDING TO A DRY POND BED IN FLEMINGTON, NEW JERSEY. THE CERTIFICATED COMMERCIAL PILOT WAS NOT INJURED AND THE THREE PASSENGERS SUSTAINED SERIOUS INJURIES. VISUAL METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS PREVAILED AND NO FLIGHT PLAN WAS FILED FOR THE SIGHTSEEING FLIGHT CONDUCTED UNDER 14 CFR PART 91. IN PREPARATION FOR THE FLIGHT, THE PILOT CHECKED THE WEATHER CONDITIONS AT 1400 AND 1700, AND REPORTED THAT THERE WAS NO SIGNIFICANT WEATHER FORECASTED ALONG THE INTENDED ROUTE OF FLIGHT. HE GAVE A PRE-FLIGHT BRIEFING TO HIS PASSENGERS, WHICH INCLUDED A LANDING SCENARIO IN HIGH WIND CONDITIONS. THE BALLOON WAS LAUNCHED ABOUT 1900, AND THE WINDS WERE OUT OF THE WEST-NORTHWEST AT ABOUT 5 MPH. IN A WRITTEN STATEMENT, THE PILOT SAID: "CLIMBED TO AROUND 2,000 FEET MOL TO TAK E ADVANTAGE OF THE NW BREEZE. DURING THE FLIGHT, CLOUDS BEGAN TO GATHER TO THE NW. AS TIME PROGRESSED THE CELL BECAME MORE OMINOUS AND IT BECAME APPARENT THAT IT WOULD OVERTAKE US. AT THIS TIME (APEX. 07:40), DROPPED DOWN TO TREE TOP TO AGAIN GET THE WNW BREEZE. THIS WOULD BRING US INTO NUMEROUS HOUSING DEVELOPMENTS WHERE WE WERE GOING TO LAND. AT ABOUT 07:50, WIND DIRECTION CHANGED TO NW AND SPEED INCREASED SIGNIFICANTLY. SEVERAL ATTEMPTS TO LAND IN THIS WIND WERE MET WITH SEVERE VERTICAL WIND SHEAR WHICH PUSHED THE BALLOON DOWN AT A HIGH RATE OF SPEED. EACH APPROACH HAD TO BE ABORTED." "THE SAME VIOLENT DOWNDRAFTS WERE EXPERIENCED ON THE LAST ATTEMPT TO LAND HOWEVER, ATTEMPTS TO ABORT THIS APPROACH FAILED. THE BALLOON MADE CONTACT WITH A TREE, WENT THROUGH THE TREE, AND CONTINUED DOWN. ROUTE 31, WHICH IS LINED WITH POWER LINES, BORDERS THE LANDING SITE TO THE EAST. THERE IS ALSO A CELL TOWER JUST TO THE EAST OF RT. 31. FEARING A REBOUND INTO EITHER ONE OF THESE, THE TOP WAS PULLED AROUND 30 FEET (EST.). ONCE LANDED, THE BALLOON WAS DRAGGED APPROXIMATELY 70 FEET. RATE OF DESCENT WAS HIGH. FORWARD SPEED WAS GREATER THAN 10 MPH (EST.)." "THE HARD LANDING RESULTED IN 3 PASSENGERS BEING INJURED." THE PILOT REPORTED THAT AT THE TIME OF THE ACCIDENT, THE WEATHER WAS OVERCAST WITH LIGHT RAIN. THE WINDS WERE FROM THE NORTHWEST GREATER THAN 10 KNOTS. IN A TELEPHONE CONVERSATION, A PASSENGER SAID THAT SHE AND HER PARENTS WERE GIVEN A "QUICK BRIEFING" BY THE PILOT PRIOR TO THE FLIGHT. THIS BRIEFING INCLUDED INSTRUCTION ON HOW TO PREPARE FOR THREE POSSIBLE LANDING SCENARIOS. THE PASSENGER SAID THAT APPROXIMATELY 15 BALLOONS HAD LAUNCHED THAT AFTERNOON, AND HER BALLOON WAS ONE OF THE LAST TO DEPART. SHE SAID THE FLIGHT WAS UNEVENTFUL UNTIL IT WAS TIME TO LAND. TOWARD THE END OF THE FLIGHT, THE PASSENGER OBSERVED THE OTHER BALLOONS LAND, BUT HER BALLOON CONTINUED TO FLY OVER "SUITABLE LANDING SPOTS". SHE REPORTED THAT THE PILOT NEVER MADE ANY REAL ATTEMPTS TO LAND. THEY THEN CROSSED OVER A RIDGE, WHERE SHE SAW "MILES OF OPEN FARM LAND." AS THE FLIGHT CONTINUED, THE PASSENGER SAID THE PILOT'S DEMEANOR CHANGED. THE PILOT THEN ASKED THE PASSENGERS, "DO YOU REMEMBER WHAT THE #3 LANDING IS?" HE TOLD THE PASSENGERS TO PUT THEIR HEADS DOWN AND FACE THE DIRECTION OF TRAVEL. THE BALLOON THEN GOT MOMENTARILY SNAGGED IN A TREE. AS THE BALLOON GOT CLEAR OF THE TREE, THE PILOT TOLD THE PASSENGERS THAT THEY WERE GOING TO HIT HARD, AND HE COUNTED DOWN TO WHEN THEY WOULD IMPACT THE GROUND. WHEN THE BALLOON LANDED, THE PASSENGER WAS THROWN FROM THE BASKET AS IT TUMBLED. SHE THEN HEARD THE PILOT SAY, "THERE WAS A STORM AND I HAD TO DO WHAT I HAD TO DO." HOWEVER, SHE DID NOT RECALL THE PILOT TALKING ABOUT A STORM PRIOR TO THE LANDING. THE PASSENGER SAID THAT THERE WAS A STORM ON THE HORIZON, BUT IT WAS NOT "RIGHT ON TOP OF THEM."THE PILOT REPORTED A TOTAL OF 249 FLIGHT HOURS, AND THAT THERE WERE NO MECHANICAL DEFICIENCIES WITH THE BALLOON. A RADAR SUMMARY CHART WAS ISSUED ON JULY 15, 2001, AT 2015. EXAMINATION OF THE CHART REVEALED THAT THE PRIMARY RADAR SITE FOR NEW JERSEY WAS NOT AVAILABLE. HOWEVER, THE SURROUNDING RADAR SITES DID DEFLECT ECHOES IN THE NORTHERN NEW JERSEY AREA, BUT ONLY REPORTED LEVEL 1 AND 2 ACTIVITY. ## The NTSB's investigation of this event (1) From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. - [NTSB IAD01LA080](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/IAD01LA080), Jul 16, 2001: Aerostar International RXS-8 (N7106F), Flemington, NJ, no damage. Probable cause: pilot's continued flight into known adverse weather conditions, which resulted in a hard landing. A factor was the downdrafts. ## Other reports on N7106F (1) Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date. - [Incident 19950716024239I](https://openairdocs.org/incident/19950716024239I), Jul 16, 1995: Arostr RX8 (N7106F), Stewartsville, NJ, Minor damage. Wind shift on landing. Elected to continue. Wind drifted balloon into a house. Minor damage to house and balloon. 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.