- Date
- September 12, 2000, 08:15 local (14:15 UTC)
- Place
- Custer, SD
- Injuries
- 1 serious, 11 uninjured
- Damage
- Minor damage
- Phase of flight
- Standing
- Aircraft
- N9174ZAerostar S-81A
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report October 17, 2001
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 20000912036919A
- Case key
- 50247
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 ground crew's failure to maintain control of the balloon until all passengers were disembarked. A factor related to the accident was the gust of wind.
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
A passenger fractured her leg while exiting the balloon. The passenger reported, "The basket bounced 3 or 4 times hard - one bounce approx 5'. The pilot ordered people to get out - one at a time. Passengers and ground crew were trying to hold the basket down. Everybody got off except me. Then a gust of wind took the balloon and tilted it over and I got out. It was at that point it broke my leg." The pilot reported that the passenger fractured her leg when she tripped after having exited the basket. He reported that after all the passengers were out of the basket, a small gust of wind carried the balloon about 100 feet into some power lines where it received several small holes.
Factual narrative
On September 12, 2000, at 0815 mountain daylight time, N9174Z, an Aerostar S-81A hot air balloon, received minor damage during a landing in Custer, South Dakota. One passenger received a fractured leg while exiting the basket. The pilot and 10 other passengers were not injured. The 14 CFR Part 91 business flight was operating in visual meteorological conditions. The flight originated in Custer, South Dakota, at 0715 mountain daylight time.
The pilot reported that at the conclusion of the flight, 10 of the 11 passengers on board exited the basket. He reported that the 11th passenger tripped and cracked one of her leg bones after she exited the balloon. The pilot reported that after all the passengers were out of the basket, a small gust of wind carried the balloon about 100 feet into some power lines where it received several small holes.
The injured passenger reported that during the landing, "The basket bounced 3 or 4 times hard - one bounce approx 5'. The pilot ordered people to get out - one at a time. Passengers and ground crew were trying to hold the basket down. Everybody got off except me. Then a gust of wind took the balloon and tilted it over and I got out. It was at that point it broke my leg."
Aircraft
- Registration
- N9174Z
- Reported as
- Aerostar S-81A
- Category
- Balloon
- Serial number
- 581A-3001
- Airframe hours
- 601
- Engine
- unknown
- Damage
- Minor damage
- Flight
- Business · Part 91
- Operator
- Blackhill Balloons
- Registered owner
- Box Canyon LLC
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · October 1, 1999 · 81 hours before
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
- 47
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Medical
- Unknown, Unknown
- Flight hours
- 2,170 total · 400 in this make and model · 2,170 as pilot in command · 60 in the last 90 days · 20 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 270° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 147 °F, dew point 99 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- CUT
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.
Other investigations on N9174Z · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.