# Accident 20230723010369A: Head Balloons Inc AX8-88, Guilford, CT, July 23, 2023

- Type: FAA accident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: July 23, 2023, 21:42 local time
- Place: Guilford, CT
- Damage: No damage
- Phase of flight: Other, Specify
- Operating rules: General operating rules (Part 91)
- Location: 41.2795° N, 72.6763° W: From the FAA
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=41.2795&lon=-72.6763&mi=10
- Aircraft: N4522E, registered now (https://openairdocs.org/aircraft/N4522E) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry model: Head Balloons AX8-88 (registry code 4280200, https://openairdocs.org/model/head-balloons-ax8-88) (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported make and model: HEAD BALLOONS INC AX8-88
- People aboard: 3
- Fatal injuries: 0
- Other injuries: 1
- Pilot certificates: Commercial pilot
- Pilot flight hours: 2,328 total, 61 in this make and model, 21 in the last 90 days
- NTSB investigation: [NTSB ERA23LA315](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ERA23LA315) (OpenAirDocs)
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/20230723010369A

## Narrative

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

ON JULY 23, 2023 AT APPROXIMATELY 2142 EST, A HEAD BALLOONS AX8-88 WAS PROVIDING TETHERED RIDES AT THE ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^ TO OBSERVE A LASER LIGHT SHOW.  THE PILOT HAD BEEN OPERATING THE BALLOON FOR APPROXIMATELY 3 HOURS AND AS WITNESSES STATED THERE WAS AN ESTABLISHED PROCESS IN PLACE OF BOARDING AND UN-BOARDING THE BASKET PRIOR TO THE RIDES TAKING PLACE.  INDIVIDUALS WOULD TAKE TURNS GETTING ON AND OFF, ONE AT A TIME.   AT THE TIME OF THE FLIGHT, 6 PASSENGER WERE LOADED ONTO THE BALLOON ALONG WITH THE PILOT WHO BROUGHT THE PASSENGERS UP, AND THEN BACK DOWN.  AS WITNESSES STATED, WHEN THE BALLOON GOT BACK DOWN, THERE WAS NO VOLUNTEERS TO ASSIST IN UN-BOARDING / BOARDING PROCESS.  THREE PASSENGERS GOT OFF AND NO ONE GOT ON TO COUNTERBALANCE THE BALLOON.  AS THE FOURTH PASSENGER GOT OFF THE BALLOON, THE BALLOON STARTED TO ASCEND.  AT THAT TIME, WITNESSES STATED THAT THREE VOLUNTEERS ATTEMPTED TO GRAB THE BASKET TO PREVENT IT FROM ASCENDING.  THE ASCENT WAS TOO STRONG AND TWO OF THE THREE VOLUNTEERS LET GO OF THE BASKET.  ONE VOLUNTEER CONTINUED TO HOLD ON UNTIL THE BALLOON HAD ASCENDED APPROXIMATELY 15 FEET AT WHICH POINT THE INDIVIDUAL LET GO SUFFERING MULTIPLE SERIOUS INJURIES.

## 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 ERA23LA315](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ERA23LA315), Jul 24, 2023: Head Balloons AX8-88 (N4522E), Guilford, CT, no damage. Probable cause: The pilot’s inadequate supervision of the boarding process and the ground crewmember’s failure to immediately let go of the balloon after it began an inadvertent climb.

## Other reports on N4522E (1)

Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.

- [Accident 20020705015209A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/20020705015209A), Jul 5, 2002: Head AX888HEAD (N4522E), Victor, ID, No damage. (.19) On July 5, 2002, approximately 0720 mountain daylight time, a Head balloons, inc. AX8-88, N4522E, registered to and being operated by a commercial pilot,…

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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