# Accident 20141025021799A: Head Balloons Inc AX8-88, Montevallo, AL, October 25, 2014

- Type: FAA accident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: October 25, 2014, 08:00 local time
- Place: Montevallo, AL
- Damage: No damage
- Phase of flight: Landing: Touchdown
- Operating rules: General operating rules (Part 91)
- Location: 33.0850° N, 86.8392° W: From the FAA
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=33.0850&lon=-86.8392&mi=10
- Aircraft: N20671, registered now (https://openairdocs.org/aircraft/N20671) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry model: Head Balloons AX8-88 (registry code 4280200, https://openairdocs.org/model/head-balloons-ax8-88) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry engine: NONE (registry code 00000, https://openairdocs.org/engine/none) (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported make and model: HEAD BALLOONS INC AX8-88
- Reported engine: NONE NONE
- People aboard: 3
- Fatal injuries: 0
- Other injuries: 1
- Pilot certificates: Commercial pilot
- Pilot flight hours: 152 total, 112 in this make and model, 5 in the last 90 days
- NTSB investigation: [NTSB ERA15CA035](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ERA15CA035) (OpenAirDocs)
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/20141025021799A

## Narrative

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

FLIGHT DEPARTED ALABASTER, ALABAMA AROUND 7:00AM FROM A FIELD. FLIGHT CONTINUED DUE SOUTH ON A HEADING OF 180. BALLOON CROSSED OVER COUNTY ROAD 25 NEAR MONTEVALLO, AL AND CONTINUED OVER A WOODED AREA.  PILOT STATED A FIELD CAME INTO VIEW THROUGH A BREAK IN THE TREES. HE VENTED TO START DESCENT TO THE FIELD. WIND SPEED WAS APPROX. 10-15MPH. ONCE THE WHOLE FIELD CAME INTO FULL VIEW, HE COULD SEE THERE WAS NOT MUCH ROOM TO LAND. HEAT WAS APPLIED TO ARREST THE DESCENT AND LAND IN THE FRONT HALF OF THE FIELD. THE LANDING WAS A HARD LANDING WITH SOME DRAGGING OF THE BASKET ONCE IT LANDED.  PILOT AND MALE PASSENGER WERE UNINJURED.  FEMALE PASSENGER HAD PAIN IN BOTH ARMS, BUT REFUSED MEDICAL TREATMENT.  FEMALE PASSENGER SOUGHT MEDICAL TREATMENT LATER THAT AFTERNOON  AND FOUND OUT SHE HAD FRACTURED BOTH ARMS.   BALLOON SUFFERED NO DAMAGE.

## 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 ERA15CA035](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ERA15CA035), Oct 25, 2014: Head AX8 88B (N20671), Montevallo, AL, no damage. Probable cause: The pilot's decision to conduct a landing to a confined area in high wind conditions, which resulted in a hard landing and subsequent injury to a passenger.

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.

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