- Date
- October 3, 1988, 08:50 local (14:50 UTC)
- Place
- Albuquerque, NM
- Injuries
- 1 minor, 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N99USPiccard AX-6
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 7, 1989
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19881003043649A
- Case key
- 17621
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 commercial plt was competing in a balloon fiesta, with 2 pax. The plt selected a landing field with power lines and a street running east and west across it. The balloon was drifting south and the plt selected the south end of the field for landing, requiring the flight path to cross over the lines. During the descent from 200 ft AGL, the plt applied heat to level off so the balloon would clear the power line in the flight path. The plt said the elevation made the balloon's response sluggish and the basket descended below the power lines. The plt attempted to climb by adding more heat, then deflated the balloon to strike the lines with the envelope rather then the basket. The envelope hit the lines and burned. The basket hung 20 ft off the ground for about a minute, then slid to the ground. Molten material from the burning envelope fell on the pax as they exited the basket.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N99US
- Reported as
- Piccard AX-6
- Category
- Balloon
- Serial number
- 699
- Airframe hours
- 242
- Engine
- unknown
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Conn, Richard C.
- Registered owner
- Richard Conn
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 31, 1988 · 11 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
- 44
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Unknown
- Flight hours
- 2,407 total · 18 in this make and model · 1,063 as pilot in command · 8 in the last 90 days · 7 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 360° at 10 knots, gusting 15
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 64 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.
Other investigations on N99US · 3
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.