20100317030889A

The pilot stated that he departed on a balloon sight seeing flight at approximately 1800 with eight passengers. He began the flight with three full 20 gallon tanks of propane . He stated that each tank has approximately 25 minutes of burn time each. He stated that he had been in the air for approximately 52 minutes prior to the incident. He states that when he was approximately 1 mile form his planned landing site he was approaching a set of 230 kv powerlines and the wind had "becalmed" and he had less than 2 knots of forward speed. He stated that he had approximately 20 percent of fuel left which would not have provided enough pressure to climb over the powerlines and then have enough fuel to hold altitude to wait for wind to push the balloon past the power lines. He was also concerned about landing in the housing area just east of the powerlines if he did manage to clear the power lines. He decided to execute an emergency descent and landing by pulling the hot air release rope. The balloon began a descent to the ground and made a hard landing from approximately 750 feet MSL. After the emergency landing, three passengers sustained broken bones and other injuries. They were transported by the San Diego city fire department. When asked why he didn't land sooner, he said that he was afraid of the local park rangers who ticketed the balloon pilots if they landed on city open park properties. This indicates a lack of pre-flight planning and proper risk assesment.