- Date
- June 24, 2013, 08:40 local (14:40 UTC)
- Place
- Windsor, CO
- Injuries
- 2 serious, 7 minor
- Damage
- Minor damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N1235JKubicek BB70Z
- Defining event
- Landing: Hard landing
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report October 21, 2013
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- FAA Denver FSDO
- FAA report
- 20130624011419A
- Case key
- 87304
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 pilots’ encounter with increased wind, which resulted in a hard and fast landing.
Findings · 1
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
The pilot said there had been very little wind when he had launched in his balloon earlier and his flight at about 1,000 feet above ground level (agl) was normal. He reported that there was very little wind until he descended to about 300 feet agl when the wind began to interfere. The pilot advised all passengers to lower themselves inside the basket and to brace themselves for a hard landing. The passengers advised that the balloon basket hit the ground “very hard” and bounced several times before hitting the slope side of a dirt hill where the basket flipped onto its side and was dragged in the dirt in that tipped-over position. The total distance from first impact to the balloon's final resting location was estimated at about 1,300 feet. The impact resulted in substantial damage to the main basket, the basket partitions, and substantial damage to the burner cage.
Factual narrative
The pilot said there had been very little wind when he had launched in his balloon earlier and his flight at about 1,000 feet above ground level (agl) was normal. He reported that there was very little wind until he descended to about 300 feet agl when the wind began to interfere. The pilot advised all passengers to lower themselves inside the basket and to brace themselves for a hard landing. The passengers advised that the balloon basket hit the ground “very hard” and bounced several times before hitting the slope side of a dirt hill where the basket flipped onto its side and was dragged in the dirt in that tipped-over position. The total distance from first impact to the balloon's final resting location was estimated at about 1,300 feet. The impact resulted in substantial damage to the main basket, the basket partitions, and substantial damage to the burner cage.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1235J
- Reported as
- Kubicek BB70Z
- Category
- Balloon
- Serial number
- 906
- Airframe hours
- 62
- Damage
- Minor damage
- Flight
- Other work use · Part 91
- Operator
- Longmont Hot Air Balloon LLC, doing business as Longmont Hot Air Balloon LLC
- Registered owner
- Joseph R Hart
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 4, 2013 · 18 hours before
- Departed
- NONE · Longmont, CO
- Destination
- NONE · Windsor, CO
- Flight plan
- Unknown
- Airport
- FNL · Ft Collins-Loveland Municipal
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
- 59
- Injuries
- Serious
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Last flight review
- December 1, 2012
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 2,000 total · 80 in this make and model · 30 in the last 90 days · 15 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 170° at 16 knots, gusting 20
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 70 °F, dew point 50 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.93 inHg
- Observed at
- KFNL, 1 nm away
Docket · 1
The files NTSB released with the investigation on July 26, 2013, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 90 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.