- Date
- August 26, 1990, 21:00 local (Aug 27, 1990, 01:00 UTC)
- Place
- Mottville, MI
- Injuries
- 1 serious, 4 uninjured
- Damage
- Minor damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N6092KCameron N120
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 28, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19900826038209A
- Case key
- 14746
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 a proper decent rate during landing and his decision to initiate the flight in high winds conditions.
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 balloon flight was launched in high winds. During the flight the balloon encountered low altitude wind shear. While approaching to land the wind shear and high wind speed still prevailed and caused the balloon to descend rapidly. The balloon pilot stated that he was unable to slow the descent sufficiently due to low propane fuel pressure for the balloons burner. The balloon basket collided with the ground during a hard landing touchdown. One passenger was seriously injured as a result of the hard landing.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N6092K
- Reported as
- Cameron N120
- Category
- Balloon
- Serial number
- 5513
- Engine
- Unknown UNKNOWN, unknown
- Damage
- Minor damage
- Flight
- Aerial observation · Part 91
- Operator
- Jay A. Krull
- Registered owner
- Elkhart Balloon Port
- Departed
- Elkhart, IN
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
- 37
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Flight hours
- 322 total · 159 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 210° at 15 knots
- Visibility
- 3 statute miles
- Temperature
- -0 °F, dew point -0 °F
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 N6092K · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.