- Date
- May 15, 2010, 19:50 local (23:50 UTC)
- Place
- Hilliard, OH
- Injuries
- 1 serious, 2 uninjured
- Damage
- No damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N9002ZAerostar International S57A
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Cabin safety event
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report July 22, 2010
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- FAA Columbus FSDO
- FAA report
- 20100515034259A
- Case key
- 76043
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The passenger’s inadequate brace for the balloon landing, resulting in injury.
Findings · 2
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
After a 50-minute, late afternoon balloon flight, the pilot executed a normal touchdown onto a flat grassy area. A weather station 8 miles to the northeast reported the surface wind was five miles per hour at the time of the accident. All of the occupants were facing forward for the touchdown and the pilot had previously instructed both passengers how to hold on to two points and how to flex their knees for the first impact of landing. At the first impact with the ground, the 82 year old female passenger sank to the floor of the balloon basket. It was immediately apparent to the other passenger that she had been injured. After the basket stopped moving, the pilot deflated the balloon and the pilot, the other passenger, and a bystander assisted the injured passenger in exiting. The injured passenger was transported to the hospital and treated for a broken leg. The other occupants were not injured and the balloon was not damaged. The uninjured passenger said the pre-takeoff safety briefing and the before landing safety briefing were simple and clearly understood.
Factual narrative
After a 50-minute, late afternoon balloon flight, the pilot executed a normal touch down onto a flat grassy area. A weather station 8 miles to the northeast reported the surface wind was five miles per hour at the time of the accident. All of the occupants were facing forward for the touchdown and the pilot had previously instructed both passengers how to hold on to two points and how to flex their knees for the first impact of landing. At the first impact with the ground, the 82 year old female passenger sank to the floor of the balloon basket. It was immediately apparent to the other passenger that she had been injured. After the basket stopped moving, the pilot deflated the balloon and the pilot, the other passenger, and a bystander assisted the injured passenger in exiting. The injured passenger was transported to the hospital and treated for a broken leg. The other occupants were not injured and the balloon was not damaged. The uninjured passenger said the pre-takeoff safety briefing and the before landing safety briefing were simple and clearly understood.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N9002Z
- Reported as
- Aerostar International S57A (NO SERIES)
- Category
- Balloon
- Serial number
- S57A-3133
- Airframe hours
- 812
- Damage
- No damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- T F Hampton Ventures Inc., doing business as Real Adventure Hot Air Balloon Co.
- Registered owner
- T F Hampton Ventures Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 19, 2009
- Departed
- Dublin, OH
- Destination
- Hilliard, OH
- Airport
- NONE · Balloon Landing Area
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
- 52
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Last flight review
- November 14, 2009
- Flight hours
- 771 total · 750 in this make and model · 2 in the last 90 days · 2 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 10° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 10,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 64 °F, dew point 46 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.19 inHg
- Observed at
- OSU, 8 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on June 25, 2010, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 2.3 MB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.