- Date
- August 22, 1982, 08:10 local (12:10 UTC)
- Place
- Wall Lake, MI
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N89MWCameron 0-77
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report August 22, 1983
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19820822042559A
- Case key
- 72945
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
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
The pilot reported that during flight, he encountered unexpected light turbulence and elected to land at the next available spot. He stated that during a landing approach at about 50 ft above the treetops, a gust of wind was encountered that forced hot air out of the mouth of the balloon. Reportedly, the balloon then began a descent that the pilot could not stop before hitting trees. The wind was reported to be from 210 deg at 10 gusting 17 KTS.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N89MW
- Reported as
- Cameron 0-77
- Category
- Balloon
- Serial number
- 316
- Airframe hours
- 72
- Engine
- unknown
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Brian T. Ellar
- Registered owner
- Brian T. Ellar
- Departed
- Ann Arbor, MI
- Destination
- Ann Arbor, MI
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
- 26
- Certificate
- Private
- Medical
- Unknown
- Flight hours
- 49 total · 49 in this make and model · 39 as pilot in command · 17 in the last 90 days · 10 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 210° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 8,000 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 140 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.