- Date
- June 25, 1994, 07:20 local (12:20 UTC)
- Place
- West Chicago, IL
- Injuries
- 1 serious, 3 uninjured
- Damage
- No damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N21WRHead Balloons AX7-77
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 4, 1995
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19940625048539A
- Case key
- 9641
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 proper descent rate.
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 and three passengers occupied the balloon basket. During the landing one passenger was holding a child. When the balloon landed hard, the individual holding the child sustained a fracture to his ankle. The pilot and other two passengers reported no injuries.
Factual narrative
On June 25, 1994, at 0720 central daylight time, a Head AX7-77, N21WR, registered to Wesley S. Rinker of Sanford, Florida, and operated by a commercial pilot, experienced a hard landing. The balloon received no damage. The pilot and two passengers reported no injuries. One passenger sustained serious injuries. The personal 14 CFR Part 91 flight was being conducted in visual meteorological conditions. No flight plan was on file. The flight departed Geneva, Illinois, at approximately 0625.
The balloon pilot stated that the passenger who was injured was holding his daughter on impact and fractured his ankle. He gave no explanation for the hard landing.
The passenger stated that during the approach to landing the balloon oscillated and on landing the basket swung into a mound of dirt.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N21WR
- Reported as
- Head Balloons AX7-77
- Category
- Balloon
- Serial number
- 168
- Engine
- unknown
- Damage
- No damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Rinker, Wesley S.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special); Standard, Transport; Standard, Normal
- Departed
- NONE · Geneva, IL
- Destination
- NONE · IL
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
- 61
- Certificates
- Commercial, Foreign, Student, Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea
- Medical
- Unknown
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.