- Date
- July 23, 1985, 06:45 local (12:45 UTC)
- Place
- Brighton, CO
- Injuries
- 3 serious
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N40501Balloon Works Firefly 7
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19850723033859A
- Case key
- 16547
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
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
A hot air balloon owned and flown by the plt collided with electrical power lines during an attempted landing. The basket of the balloon caught fire upon contact with the wires. The occupants leaped from the burning basket sustaining serious injuries. The balloon was destroyed.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N40501
- Reported as
- Balloon Works Firefly 7
- Category
- Balloon
- Serial number
- 7936
- Airframe hours
- 6
- Engine
- None NONE, unknown
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- In-Flight
- Flight
- Business · Part 91
- Operator
- Maynard M. Whitney
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- C058 · Fredrick, CO
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
- 53
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Flight hours
- 142 total · 12 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 315° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 25 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.