- Date
- October 10, 2004, 08:20 local (14:20 UTC)
- Place
- Albuquerque, NM
- Injuries
- 1 serious, 1 uninjured
- Damage
- No damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N6377CAerostar International S-60S
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report January 24, 2005
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20041010024239A
- Case key
- 60327
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 passenger striking the pilot's leg during the landing, resulting in a fractured leg.
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
According to the pilot, during a "stand-up" landing, the passenger fell inside the basket, and struck the pilot's leg. The pilot received a fractured lower leg.
Factual narrative
On October 10, 2004, at approximately 0820 mountain daylight time, an Aerostar International, Inc., S-60S hot air balloon, N6377C, piloted by a private pilot, was involved in a hard landing near Albuquerque, New Mexico. The balloon was not damaged. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The local sightseeing flight was being conducted under the provisions of Title 14 CFR Part 91 without a flight plan. The pilot received serious injuries and the passenger was not injured. The flight originated at the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta Park, Albuquerque, New Mexico, at approximately 0725.
The pilot stated that, during the "stand-up" landing, the passenger fell inside the basket, and struck the pilot's left leg. The pilot sustained a fracture at the top of the tibia bone just behind the knee cap. The pilot said it was just "a freak incident" and did not think it could have been prevented.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N6377C
- Reported as
- Aerostar International S-60S
- Category
- Balloon
- Serial number
- S60S-3001
- Airframe hours
- 435
- Engine
- Damage
- No damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Rolinda A. Tzamaloukas
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · November 14, 2003 · 41 hours before
- Departed
- Albuquerque, NM
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
- 57
- Injuries
- Serious
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Last flight review
- February 22, 2004
- Flight hours
- 312 total · 253 in this make and model · 60 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 360° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Temperature
- 52 °F, dew point 43 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.10 inHg
- Observed at
- KABQ, 9 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.