- Date
- July 30, 2016
- Place
- Lockhart, TX
- Injuries
- 16 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N2469LKubicek BB85
- Defining event
- Approach: Controlled flight into terr/obj (CFIT)
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 29, 2017
- Report
- Board-adopted at Board Meeting
- Investigation class
- Class 1
- NTSB office
- Major Investigations Division
- Safety recommendations
- Yes
- FAA report
- 20160730012659A
- Case key
- 93715
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 pattern of poor decision-making that led to the initial launch, continued flight in fog and above clouds, and descent near or through clouds that decreased the pilot's ability to see and avoid obstacles. Contributing to the accident were (1) the pilot's impairing medical conditions and medications and (2) the Federal Aviation Administration's policy to not require a medical certificate for commercial balloon pilots.
Findings · 5
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The NTSB's full report is available at http://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Pages/AccidentReports.aspx. The Aircraft Accident Report number is NTSB/AAR-17/03. On July 30, 2016, about 0742 central daylight time, a Balóny Kubícek BB85Z hot air balloon, N2469L, operated by Heart of Texas Hot Air Balloon Rides, struck power lines and crashed in a field near Lockhart, Texas. The pilot and 15 passengers died, and the balloon was destroyed by impact forces and postcrash fire. The balloon was owned and operated by the pilot, and the flight was conducted under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a sightseeing passenger flight. The flight originated about 0658, just after sunrise, from Fentress Airpark, Fentress, Texas.
Factual narrative
The NTSB's full report is available at http://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Pages/AccidentReports.aspx. The Aircraft Accident Report number is NTSB/AAR-17/03. On July 30, 2016, about 0742 central daylight time, a Balóny Kubícek BB85Z hot air balloon, N2469L, operated by Heart of Texas Hot Air Balloon Rides, struck power lines and crashed in a field near Lockhart, Texas. The pilot and 15 passengers died, and the balloon was destroyed by impact forces and postcrash fire. The balloon was owned and operated by the pilot, and the flight was conducted under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a sightseeing passenger flight. The flight originated about 0658, just after sunrise, from Fentress Airpark, Fentress, Texas.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N2469L
- Reported as
- Kubicek BB85 (Z)
- Category
- Balloon
- Serial number
- unknown
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- In-Flight
- Flight
- Business · Part 91
- Operator
- Heart of Texas Hot Air Balloon Rides
- Registered owner
- Nichols Alfred G
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Balloon
- Departed
- XS90 · Fentress, TX
- Destination
- XS90 · Fentress, TX
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.
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Day
Docket · 83
The files NTSB released with the investigation on December 9, 2016, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 158 MB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.