- Date
- September 8, 1982, 19:35 local (23:35 UTC)
- Place
- Mattawan, MI
- Injuries
- 1 serious, 1 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N4053PRaven S55
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 8, 1983
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Case key
- 71609
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
During a landing in an open field the balloon collided with wires and started to burn. The pilot stated that her attention was temporarily distracted as the balloon approached a corral with horses and she was adjusting the maneuvering valve for landing. The stated that she heard people on the ground yelling "wires," within "a second later we hit them."
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4053P
- Reported as
- Raven S55
- Category
- Balloon
- Serial number
- S55A-858
- Airframe hours
- 60
- Engine
- unknown
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Kazoo Drifters
- Registered owner
- Kazoo Drifters
- Departed
- Kalamazoo, MI
- Destination
- Kalamazoo, 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
- 38
- Certificate
- Private
- Medical
- Unknown, Unknown
- Flight hours
- 31 total · 31 in this make and model · 11 in the last 90 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 190° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- SBD, 35 nm away