- Date
- February 11, 1987, 09:20 local (16:20 UTC)
- Place
- Colo. Springs, CO
- Injuries
- 1 serious, 1 uninjured
- Damage
- No damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N40458Balloon Works Firefly 7
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 25, 1988
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19870211002589A
- Case key
- 17169
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
The balloon attempted a normal landing. The instructor plt diverted his attention while the student plt allowed the envelope to cool excessively. This gave a high rate of descent and the balloon made a hard landing.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N40458
- Reported as
- Balloon Works Firefly 7
- Category
- Balloon
- Serial number
- 7897
- Airframe hours
- 204
- Engine
- None NONE, unknown
- Damage
- No damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Arthur J. Walsh
- Registered owner
- Arthur J. Walsh
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · August 23, 1986
- Departed
- CO50 · Ellicott, 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
- 56
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Expired
- Flight hours
- 5,604 total · 33 in this make and model · 5,369 as pilot in command · 19 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 330° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 80 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.
Other investigations on N40458 · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.