- Date
- October 5, 1987, 08:30 local (14:30 UTC)
- Place
- Rio Rancho, NM
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N15260Balloon Works Firefly 7-B
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 29, 1988
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19871005060199A
- Case key
- 17399
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 plt rptd that she had vented the balloon to land. She said it takes both of her hands to open the vent and hold it open. 'When the balloon hit the ground the burner went on by itself, wide open. The envelope was swinging from the contact of the basket with the ground and was in the path of the burner almost instantly.' The envelope was damaged by the fire but there were no injuries. An FAA airworthiness insp examined the burner after the accd. He reported that 'before teardown the burner assy was installed on the gondola and operationally tested. The valve was operated normally approx 10 on/off cycles. The valve was pressure tested and no leaks were noted. The blast valve was then removed from the burner assy and disassembled. The dimension between the actuating lever and the bonnet was approx .006 instead of the req min of .010. This was due to an extra teflon washer installed between the lever and bonnet, however, the operation of the valve was not affected.' No other discrepencies were noted.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N15260
- Reported as
- Balloon Works Firefly 7-B (FIREFLY 7-)
- Category
- Balloon
- Serial number
- 10978
- Airframe hours
- 251
- Engine
- unknown
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Janet L. Hodges
- Registered owner
- Janet L Hodges
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · February 10, 1987 · 30 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
- 40
- Certificate
- Private
- Flight hours
- 90 total · 90 in this make and model · 79 as pilot in command · 4 in the last 90 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 90° at 1 knots
- Visibility
- 15 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.