- Date
- May 18, 2005, 19:10 local (May 19, 2005, 00:10 UTC)
- Place
- Shreveport, LA
- Injuries
- 2 fatal
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N699WHAerostar International S53A
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 13, 2005
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20050518009659A
- Case key
- 61509
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 maintain clearance from electrical power lines.
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
While flying over a residential area, the balloon struck electrical power lines approximately 60 feet above ground level (agl). Subsequently, the balloon was observed by witnesses ascending to an altitude of approximately 2,000 feet, with the basket of the balloon engulfed in flames. The balloon drifted for approximately two miles before gradually descending and coming to rest in a parking lot.
Factual narrative
On May 18, 2005, approximately 1910 central daylight time, an Aerostar S53A hot-air balloon, N699WH, was substantially damaged when it collided with power lines during cruise flight near Shreveport, Louisiana. The commercial pilot and passenger were fatally injured. The balloon was registered to and operated by the pilot. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and a flight plan was not filed for the 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. The local flight originated from a staging area at Bluebird Hill Airport (5F5) near Keithville, Louisiana, at 1835.
According to information gathered by an Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector, who responded to the accident site, the balloon was flying over a residential area when it struck electrical power lines, approximately 60 feet above ground level (agl). Subsequently, the balloon was observed by witnesses ascending to an altitude of approximately 2,000 feet, with the basket of the balloon engulfed in flames. The balloon drifted for approximately two miles before gradually descending and coming to rest in a church parking lot.
Examination of the balloon by the FAA inspector revealed that the basket was destroyed by fire, and the skirt of the balloon envelope was burnt. Debris from the balloon was found scattered between the point of initial contact with the power lines to the where the balloon came to rest.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N699WH
- Reported as
- Aerostar International S53A
- Category
- Balloon
- Serial number
- S53A
- Engine
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Fire
- In-Flight
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- William Wesley Harwell
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- 5F5 · Keithville, LA
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
- 52
- Injuries
- Fatal
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Toxicology
- Performed
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 180° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 28,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 84 °F, dew point 63 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.84 inHg
- Observed at
- SHV
Docket · 1
The files NTSB released with the investigation on June 22, 2005, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 5 KB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.