- Date
- October 9, 1983, 16:45 local (20:45 UTC)
- Place
- Dorr, MI
- Injuries
- 1 serious, 3 uninjured
- Damage
- No damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N1533NBalloon Works Firefly 7
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19831009055239A
- Case key
- 12476
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 landing the basket hit a hill resulting in the basket stopping suddenly & ejecting the plt & passengers from the basket. The plt thought a passenger was still in the basket so she grabbed the valve line & hung on as the balloon rose approximately 100 ft AGL. The balloon began descending through trees, & at an alt of about 30 ft AGL the plt let go of the valve line & fell through the trees.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1533N
- Reported as
- Balloon Works Firefly 7
- Category
- Balloon
- Serial number
- 10204
- Airframe hours
- 197
- Engine
- unknown
- Damage
- No damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Douglas N. Mills
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · February 20, 1983 · 80 hours before
- Departed
- Caledonia, 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
- Commercial
- Medical
- Unknown, Unknown
- Flight hours
- 383 total · 383 in this make and model · 46 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 80° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 3,800 ft broken
- Temperature
- 52 °F, dew point 36 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- GRR, 13 nm away
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 N1533N · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.