- Date
- July 4, 1988, 07:40 local (13:40 UTC)
- Place
- Fort Collins, CO
- Injuries
- 1 serious, 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N7420SBalloon Works Firefly 8B
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 7, 1989
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19880704027059A
- Case key
- 17499
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
This balloon flt was part of a rally. The flt departed from a stadium, climbed to 500' and then made a controlled descent and landing. After the next takeoff and climb to about 125' when the burner was turned off the plt noticed that fuel was not flowing to the plt light. While attempting corrective action the balloon cooled and began to descend. The balloon was drifting toward powerlines and upon reaching 50 to 75' AGL, the plt decided to open the vent full and make an emergency landing. During the landing the balloon draped over a fence and the passenger suffered a broken ankle. The pilot stated that it is likely she inadvertently bumped the pilot light valve while working the main fuel valve. She reported that after the accident both the main and pilot fuel systems were checked and found ok.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N7420S
- Reported as
- Balloon Works Firefly 8B
- Category
- Balloon
- Serial number
- F8B 044
- Airframe hours
- 80
- Engine
- Unknown UNKNOWN, unknown
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- W Sebastian & Co
- Registered owner
- W. Sebastian & Co.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 15, 1988 · 2 hours before
- Departed
- NONE
- Destination
- NONE
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
- 41
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Flight hours
- 117 total · 109 in this make and model · 117 as pilot in command · 7 in the last 90 days · 5 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 360° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 64 °F, dew point 48 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.