- Date
- June 6, 1987, 07:21 local (11:21 UTC)
- Place
- Gaithersburg, MD
- Injuries
- 1 fatal, 1 serious
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N2496ZPiccard AX-6
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report October 7, 1988
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Case key
- 11323
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
After two aborted landings the pilot saw a field in the distance and attempted to land. Although two other balloons had landed nearby, the field he was blown towards had numerous powerlines surrounding it, some of them at treetop height. During the approach for landing the balloon contacted a 69,000 volt powerline, caught fire and exploded after ground contact.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N2496Z
- Reported as
- Piccard AX-6
- Category
- Balloon
- Serial number
- 496
- Airframe hours
- 175
- Engine
- unknown
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Robert Vannewkirk
- Registered owner
- Robert E. Vannewkirk
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 14, 1987 · 9 hours before
- Departed
- Germantown, MD
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
- 38
- Certificate
- Private
- Flight hours
- 55 total
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 290° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 66 °F, dew point 54 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- BWI, 25 nm away