# NTSB investigations: Balloon Works FIREFLY 7, CO

NTSB aviation accident and incident investigations since 1962: the probable cause, findings, aircraft, crew, weather and docket of each, linked to the FAA registry and the FAA’s own reports.

## Latest cases

- [NTSB FTW95LA376](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/FTW95LA376.md): Balloon Works Firefly 7 · Colorado Spgs, CO · Accident · Serious injuries · Limited investigation · Final report · Sep 2, 1995 · N90555 · No damage
  > An encounter with a wind shift during landing.
- [NTSB FTW95LA280](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/FTW95LA280.md): Balloon Works Firefly 7 · Littleton, CO · Accident · Serious injuries · Limited investigation · Final report · Jul 8, 1995 · N2232H · No damage
  > The failure of the pilot to maintain control of the Balloon during landing.
- [NTSB DEN87LA054](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/DEN87LA054.md): Balloon Works Firefly 7 · Colo. Springs, CO · Accident · Serious injuries · Limited investigation · Final report · Feb 11, 1987 · N40458 · No damage
  > The Balloon attempted a normal landing. The instructor plt diverted his attention while the student plt allowed the envelope to cool excessively. This gave a high rate of descent and the Balloon made a hard landing.
- [NTSB DEN86LA263](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/DEN86LA263.md): Barnes AX-7 · Durango, CO · Accident · No injuries · Limited investigation · Final report · Sep 28, 1986 · N2346H · Destroyed
  > While flying low level inside a river gorge at 200-300 feet above the water, the balloon impacted a power line and fell into the river.
- [NTSB DEN85LA234](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/DEN85LA234.md): Balloon Works Firefly 7 · Littleton, CO · Accident · Serious injuries · Limited investigation · Final report · Sep 1, 1985 · N2259H · No damage
  > The plt attempted to land his Balloon in high winds resulting a hard ldg which threw him out of the basket the Balloon then began an immediate asent until a pax pulled the vent line and the Balloon settled rapidly until it hit the grd. Injuries to passengers…
- [NTSB DEN85FA196](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/DEN85FA196.md): Balloon Works Firefly 7 · Brighton, CO · Accident · Serious injuries · Field investigation · Final report · Jul 23, 1985 · N40501 · Destroyed
  > A hot air Balloon owned and flown by the plt collided with electrical power lines during an attempted landing. The basket of the Balloon caught fire upon contact with the wires. The occupants leaped from the burning basket sustaining serious injuries. The…
- [NTSB DEN84LA043](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/DEN84LA043.md): Balloon Works Firefly 7 · Monte Vista, CO · Accident · Serious injuries · Limited investigation · Final report · Nov 11, 1983 · N2416H · No damage
  > The plt was participating in a 'hare & hounds' Balloon contest. The aircrews were wx briefed at the launch site before the event. Reportedly, there was a front approaching but it was not expected to move thru until about 2 to 3 hrs after the contest.…
- [NTSB DEN83FTE03](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/DEN83FTE03.md): Balloon Works Firefly 7 · Del Norte, CO · Accident · Serious injuries · Final report · May 30, 1983 · N1516S · No damage
  > While circumnavigating snow showers at night in mountainous terrain the plt elected to make a precautionary landing on a highway. The acft struck trees on a hillside that the plt hadn't seen in the darkness.
- [NTSB DEN82DTE26](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/DEN82DTE26.md): Barnes AX-7 · Aurora, CO · Accident · Serious injuries · Final report · Sep 4, 1982 · N4069Y · No damage
  > The VFR local pleasure flight was being conducted in strong 20-25 kt wind conditions. The wind condition had changed substantially during the duration of the flight. During a landing in a plowed field the gondola bounced and was drug approximately 270 feet.…
- [NTSB DEN80DTE57](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/DEN80DTE57.md): BLN Works FF-7 · Elbert, CO · Accident · Serious injuries · Closed · Jun 24, 1980 · N79CS · No damage
- [NTSB DEN80DTE61](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/DEN80DTE61.md): Firefly 7 · Colo Springs, CO · Accident · Serious injuries · Closed · Jun 21, 1980 · N40516 · No damage
- [NTSB DEN79DTE68](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/DEN79DTE68.md): Balloon WKS Fire 7 · Firestone, CO · Accident · Serious injuries · Closed · Jul 29, 1979 · N40458 · Substantial damage

## The whole list in SQL

Runs in DuckDB 1.2 or later on the release's Parquet files over HTTPS:

```sql
SELECT c."ntsbNumber", c."eventDate", c."eventType", c."eventCity", c."eventStateOrRegion", a.n_number, a."aircraftMake", a."aircraftModel", c."highestInjuryLevel", c."totalFatal", c."completionStatus", c.report_url
FROM 'https://openairdocs.org/data/latest/ntsb_case_detail.parquet' c LEFT JOIN 'https://openairdocs.org/data/latest/ntsb_aircrafts.parquet' a ON a.case_mkey = c."mKey" AND a.position = 1
WHERE c."eventStateOrRegion" = 'CO' AND c."eventCountry" = 'USA'
  AND c."mKey" IN (SELECT x.case_mkey FROM 'https://openairdocs.org/data/latest/ntsb_aircrafts.parquet' x WHERE x.aircraft_model_code IN ('1050100'))
ORDER BY c."eventDate" DESC, c."ntsbNumber" DESC
```

This list as a web page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb?model=1050100&state=CO

---
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.
