- Date
- August 27, 1988, 09:00 local (15:00 UTC)
- Place
- Fort Morgan, CO
- Injuries
- 1 serious, 2 uninjured
- Damage
- No damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N779TVRaven S55A
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report July 10, 1989
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19880827054269A
- Case key
- 17540
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 reported that at the time of takeoff, the winds were 'light to moderate from 015 deg at 5 KTS or less.' Shortly after takeoff, the winds increased to 10-15 KTS and the plt decided to land on 'grassy, relatively smooth terrain.' The plt said he instructed his two pax to 'bend their knees' at or just before touchdown. One pax locked her knees and sustained a fractured ankle. There were no injuries to the plt or the other pax, and the balloon was not damaged.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N779TV
- Reported as
- Raven S55A
- Category
- Balloon
- Serial number
- S55A-541
- Airframe hours
- 266
- Engine
- unknown
- Damage
- No damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Dan E & Charlene L. Franks
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · August 2, 1988 · 29 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
- 41
- Certificate
- Private
- Flight hours
- 48 total · 48 in this make and model · 32 as pilot in command · 32 in the last 90 days · 22 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 15° at 15 knots, gusting 8
- Visibility
- 50 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 70 °F, dew point 61 °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.