- Date
- March 26, 1987, 10:00 local (17:00 UTC)
- Place
- Park City, UT
- Injuries
- 1 minor, 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N1521GBalloon Works Firefly 7
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 9, 1988
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19870326009279A
- Case key
- 17181
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 was landing in an open field and struck a rock. One pax had prepared for hard landing and one had elected to continue filming. The photographer was thrown forward out of the basket and the basket passed over him, coming to rest 50 feet away.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1521G
- Reported as
- Balloon Works Firefly 7
- Category
- Balloon
- Serial number
- 11113
- Engine
- None NONE, unknown
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Part 91
- Registered owner
- Carl Palmer
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · February 2, 1987 · 39 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
- 43
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Flight hours
- 130 total · 130 in this make and model · 130 as pilot in command · 45 in the last 90 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 140° at 10 knots, gusting 15
- Visibility
- 50 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 28 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.