- Date
- October 5, 1998, 08:10 local (14:10 UTC)
- Place
- Albuquerque, NM
- Injuries
- 1 serious, 1 minor, 2 uninjured
- Damage
- No damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N3290GBalloon Works Firefly 8B-15
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 19, 1999
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19981005039229A
- Case key
- 45389
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 passenger not following high wind landing procedures/directives which were given to her by the pilot. A factor was the unforecasted high wind condition.
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 said that the surface wind velocity increased to 10 to 12 knots during the flight. He reported to the Investigator-In-Charge that he descended to lower altitudes several times to 'test the wind conditions.' He briefed his passengers and performed the landing. One passenger received a broken ankle. The injured passenger told one of the crew members that she had shifted her position just before touchdown and 'she had not braced herself properly for the hard landing.'
Factual narrative
On October 5, 1998, at 0810 mountain daylight time, a Balloon Works Firefly 8B-15, N3290G, was not damaged during a high wind hard landing at Albuquerque, New Mexico. The commercial pilot and two of his passengers were not injured; however, a second passenger was seriously injured. The balloon was owned by the pilot and was being operated by World Balloons, LLC., of Albuquerque, New Mexico, under Title 14 CFR Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the local flight which originated from the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta Park approximately 45 minutes prior to the accident. No flight plan had been filed.
According to the pilot, the surface wind velocity increased to 10 to 12 knots during the flight. He reported to the Investigator-In-Charge that he descended to lower altitudes several times to "test the wind conditions." He briefed his passengers and performed the landing. One passenger received a broken ankle. The injured passenger told one of the crew members that she had shifted her position just before touchdown and "she had not braced herself properly for the hard landing."
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3290G
- Reported as
- Balloon Works Firefly 8B-15 (FIREFLY 8B)
- Category
- Balloon
- Serial number
- 8B-15
- Airframe hours
- 215
- Engine
- unknown
- Damage
- No damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Michael E. Gianetti
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · October 1, 1998 · 5 hours before
- Departed
- 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
- 40
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Medical
- Unknown, Unknown
- Flight hours
- 703 total · 600 in this make and model · 673 as pilot in command · 47 in the last 90 days · 14 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 330° at 2 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 48 °F, dew point 19 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- ABQ, 10 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.