- Date
- July 8, 2023, 19:30 local (23:30 UTC)
- Place
- Canandaigua, NY
- Injuries
- 1 serious, 2 uninjured
- Damage
- No damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N9184DAerostar International RX 8
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Hard landing
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- FAA FSDO
- FAA report
- 20230708015399A
- Case key
- 192589
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 the proper descent rate during the balloon’s approach to landing, which resulted in a hard landing, the passenger’s leg hitting the gas tank, and serious 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
Following an uneventful flight, the pilot descended the balloon at a steep angle into a field lined with trees. The pilot had briefed the passengers on the proper brace position before the flight and then again just before the landing. The basket touched down firmly, slid about 15 ft, and stopped upright. The passenger reported that the hard landing pushed her knee into the gas tank that she was standing next to. The passenger stated that after the first hard landing the balloon bounced again and then tipped over. Following the landing the passenger experienced pain in her leg. It was later determined the passenger had a broken left tibia. The pilot stated that there were no mechanical malfunctions with the balloon that would have precluded normal operations.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N9184D
- Reported as
- Aerostar International RX 8
- Category
- Balloon
- Serial number
- RX8-3196
- Built
- 1994
- Airframe hours
- 406.5
- Damage
- No damage
- Flight
- Aerial observation · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Balloon
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 24, 2023
- Departed
- KIUA · Canandaigua, NY
- Airport
- None
- Equipment
- None
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
- 61
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Medical
- Class 2, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- May 28, 2023
- Seat
- None
- Restraint
- None
- Flight hours
- 1,189 total · 400 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 77 °F, dew point 61 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.85 inHg
- Observed at
- KPEO, 16 nm away
- METAR
- KPEO 082253Z AUTO VRB03KT 10SM CLR 25/16 A2985 RMK AO2 SLP101 T02500156
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on November 9, 2023, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 2.4 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.