- Date
- September 16, 2011, 19:30 local (Sep 17, 2011, 00:30 UTC)
- Place
- Mingo, IA
- Injuries
- 1 serious, 2 uninjured
- Damage
- No damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N3181ABalloon Works Firefly 8
- Defining event
- Landing: Hard landing
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Status
- Completed · report December 1, 2011
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20110916021719A
- Case key
- 81843
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 pilot’s failure to maintain control of the balloon’s descent during the landing, which resulted in the balloon having a hard landing in a ditch and causing a passenger to be seriously injured.
Findings · 3
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
During a balloon flight, the pilot advised the two passengers to face in the direction of travel and to bend their knees when they land. The pilot also indicated to the passengers that momentum would propel the basket occupants forward during the landing. The wind at the time of landing reportedly gave the balloon a 9 mph groundspeed. The pilot executed a touchdown into a ditch alongside a highway after making a landing approach over a soybean field. The basket subsequently laid over on its side. One passenger sustained a serious ankle injury during the hard landing. The pilot and the other passenger were not injured and the balloon was not damaged. According to the pilot, the injured passenger indicated that her knees were bent before landing. He stated that he would instruct future passengers to point their toes in the direction of travel and add a question to his passenger questionnaire to inquire if a passenger had a medical condition that would cause the passenger to have weak bones.
Factual narrative
During a balloon flight, the pilot advised the two passengers to face in the direction of travel and to bend their knees when they land. The wind at the time of landing reportedly gave the balloon a nine mph groundspeed. The pilot also indicated to the passengers that momentum would propel the basket occupants forward during the landing. The pilot executed a touch down into a ditch alongside a highway after making a landing approach over a soybean field. The basket subsequently laid over on its side. One passenger sustained a serious ankle injury during the hard landing. The pilot and the other passenger were not injured and the balloon was not damaged. According to the pilot, the injured passenger indicated that her knees were bent before landing. The pilot stated that he would instruct future passengers to point their toes in the direction of travel and add a question to his passenger questionnaire to inquire if a passenger had a medical condition that would cause the passenger to have weak bones.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3181A
- Reported as
- Balloon Works Firefly 8
- Category
- Balloon
- Serial number
- F8-413
- Airframe hours
- 735
- Damage
- No damage
- Flight
- Aerial observation · Part 91
- Operator
- Diamondjake Ballooning DBA
- Registered owner
- Diamondjake Ballooning DBA
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · June 1, 2011
- Departed
- Newton, IA
- Destination
- Mingo, IA
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
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Last flight review
- May 9, 2010
- Flight hours
- 800 total · 320 in this make and model · 780 as pilot in command · 36 in the last 90 days · 15 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Wind
- 130° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 2,900 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 55 °F, dew point 45 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.22 inHg
- Observed at
- TNU, 13 nm away
Docket · 1
The files NTSB released with the investigation on October 25, 2011, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 543 KB 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.