- Date
- October 8, 1989, 08:00 local (14:00 UTC)
- Place
- Albuquerque, NM
- Injuries
- 3 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N1059SAdams A55
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Dawn
- Status
- Completed · report September 30, 1991
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19891008039219A
- Case key
- 17854
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The pilot's failure to adequately compensate for the existing wind conditions. Contributing factor(s) was: trees and power lines in the landing area.
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 pilot reported that during a landing attempt during a balloon fiesta, the flight encountered a wind shear and snagged a tree. After breaking free of the tree, the wind pushed the balloon into powerlines. The basket severed the top line and electrical arcing was everywhere, severing four cables.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1059S
- Reported as
- Adams A55
- Category
- Balloon
- Serial number
- 046
- Airframe hours
- 192
- Engine
- unknown
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Linda R. Guy
- Registered owner
- Unknown
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 15, 1989 · 17 hours before
- Departed
- NONE
- Destination
- NONE
- Airport
- 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
- 37
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Medical
- Unknown, Unknown
- Flight hours
- 368 total · 368 in this make and model · 361 as pilot in command · 3 in the last 90 days · 3 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Dawn
- Wind
- 180° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 39 °F, dew point -0 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.