- Date
- September 7, 1991, 07:30 local (12:30 UTC)
- Place
- Altoona, IA
- Injuries
- 1 serious, 2 uninjured
- Damage
- No damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N4055TBalloon Works Firefly X-7
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 4, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19910907038629A
- Case key
- 15185
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
Weather evaluation misjudged and overconfidence in personal ability. A factor related to the accident was high winds.
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 said that while attempting a high wind landing, the gondola hit the terrain hard, and tipped over. A passenger suffered a broken ankle during the landing.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4055T
- Reported as
- Balloon Works Firefly X-7 (FIREFLY X-)
- Category
- Balloon
- Serial number
- 10136
- Engine
- unknown
- Damage
- No damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- King, Gary D.
- Departed
- Altoona, IA
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
- 44
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Flight hours
- 247 total · 200 in this make and model · 247 as pilot in command · 6 in the last 90 days · 4 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 150° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 5 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- -0 °F, dew point -0 °F
- Observed at
- DSM, 10 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.