- Date
- October 1, 1990, 17:30 local (22:30 UTC)
- Place
- Harrison, AR
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N4264DRaven S-60A
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 9, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19901001043519A
- Case key
- 18044
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 student pilot's improper inflight planning and inaccurate evaluation of the surface weather. A factor was the unfavorable wind.
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 student pilot had been flying his balloon for about an hour when he elected to land. He attempted to land in an estimated 15 knot wind. He said that when the balloon touched down, the wind started to drag the balloon toward some electrical power lines. He jumped out of the basket just prior to the balloon striking the wires. The balloon sustained substantial damage to the envelope in a postaccident fire.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4264D
- Reported as
- Raven S-60A
- Category
- Balloon
- Serial number
- S60A-292
- Engine
- unknown
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Mike Mills
- 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
- 25
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Unknown, Unknown
- Flight hours
- 5 total · 5 in this make and model · 1 as pilot in command · 5 in the last 90 days · 3 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 135° at 15 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- -0 °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.