- Date
- April 9, 2000, 08:15 local (14:15 UTC)
- Place
- Anthony, NM
- Injuries
- 3 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N2571FBalloon Works Firefly F-15
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 29, 2000
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 20000409014929A
- Case key
- 48919
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
Failure by the pilot to keep the burner operating until the balloon was secured. A factor was the passengers disregarding the instructions they had been given by the pilot.
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
Following landing, and prior to the balloon being secured to the ground, the pilot shut down the burner and the passengers egressed from the basket contrary to the pilot's instructions, which were to stay in the basket until she told them to exit. As a result of the decrease in weight, the balloon lifted off and drifted into power lines. Because the burner was shut down, the pilot had no control in the vertical plane.
Factual narrative
On April 9, 2000, at 0815 mountain daylight time, a Balloon Works Firefly F-15, N2571F, sustained substantial damage at Anthony, New Mexico, when it drifted into power lines following landing. The private pilot and her two passengers were not injured. The flight was operating under Title 14 CFR Part 91 and no flight plan was filed.
According to the pilot, the passengers disregarded her instructions and exited the basket before the balloon was secured following landing. The burners had been shut down and the valves placed in the off position. The pilot said that when the passengers disembarked, the decrease in weight caused the balloon to rise and it drifted into nearby power lines. The lines arced and caused fire damage to the envelope. The pilot remained in the basket until it came to rest.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N2571F
- Reported as
- Balloon Works Firefly F-15 (FIREFLY F-)
- Category
- Balloon
- Serial number
- 7824-3
- Airframe hours
- 49
- Engine
- unknown
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Marta C. Pritchard
- Registered owner
- Michael L Pritchard
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 21, 1999 · 10 hours before
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
- 45
- Certificate
- Private
- Medical
- Unknown, Unknown
- Flight hours
- 49 total · 49 in this make and model · 29 as pilot in command · 12 in the last 90 days · 1 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.