- Date
- July 31, 1985, 23:05 local (Aug 1, 1985, 07:05 UTC)
- Place
- Anchorage, AK
- Injuries
- 4 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N7404XBalloon Works Firefly 8
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- Case key
- 4533
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
While the plt was approaching a field to land, the wind shifted & gusted, blowing the balloon toward a light standard. The envelope grazed the standard, ripping the material near the top of the balloon. The balloon then landed in the field. The wind was reported to be from 300 deg at 3 gusting 10 KTS.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N7404X
- Reported as
- Balloon Works Firefly 8
- Category
- Balloon
- Serial number
- F8B-007
- Airframe hours
- 465
- Engine
- none BURNER 671, unknown
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Donald E. Sampson
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · July 6, 1984 · 26 hours before
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 33
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Medical
- Unknown
- Flight hours
- 306 total · 306 in this make and model · 306 as pilot in command · 12 in the last 90 days · 6 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 300° at 3 knots, gusting 10
- Visibility
- 30 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 6,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 55 °F, dew point 48 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg