- Date
- October 4, 1982, 08:45 local (14:45 UTC)
- Place
- Albuquerque, NM
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N58LBBalloon Works Firefly 7
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report October 4, 1983
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19821004051169A
- Case key
- 69729
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 balloon collided with trees while landing in a zoo parking lot. The weather was VMC and no flight plan was filed. The pilot stated that in attempting to land next to the balloon they were chasing in a hound and hare game, he allowed the gondola to drag through the tree tops. The envelope then caught on a tree and during the encounter the envelope was torn by the branches.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N58LB
- Reported as
- Balloon Works Firefly 7
- Category
- Balloon
- Serial number
- 10974
- Airframe hours
- 35
- Engine
- unknown
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Leonard Barad
- Registered owner
- Leonard Barad
- Departed
- Albuquerque, NM
- Destination
- Albuquerque, NM
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
- 61
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Medical
- Unknown
- Flight hours
- 271 total · 271 in this make and model · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 230° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 50 statute miles
- Temperature
- 131 °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.