- Date
- May 27, 1984, 08:40 local (13:40 UTC)
- Place
- Amarillo, TX
- Injuries
- 1 serious, 1 uninjured
- Damage
- No damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N3610RBalloon Works Firefly 7
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19840527023709A
- Case key
- 21352
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
During a pre-flt breifing, the wind was reported to be from 280 deg at 6 to 12 KTS. At launch time, the plt estimated the wind was blowing at 7 KTS. He took off at 0720 CDT without difficulty & climbed to about 1000 ft AGL. Aprx 1 hr after taking off, the plt tried to land, but reported an encounter with turbulence & wind shear indicating the wind had increased. He decided to fly to where the terrain was 'broken' & he could 'expect a better windbreak.' At about 10 ft AGL, he 'ripped out.' The balloon contacted the ground & dragged aprx 100 yds, came to a brief stop, & blew another 10 to 15 ft. at that point, one passenger fell out of the basket. The basket was blown over her & broke her arm. According to the plt, he had properly briefed the passengers on the appropriate procedures for the prevailing wind.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3610R
- Reported as
- Balloon Works Firefly 7
- Category
- Balloon
- Serial number
- F7-031
- Airframe hours
- 27
- Engine
- None NONE, unknown
- Damage
- No damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Donald J. Elwell
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 3, 1984 · 1 hours before
- Departed
- Amarillo, TX
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
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Medical
- Unknown, Unknown
- Flight hours
- 108 total · 108 in this make and model · 108 as pilot in command · 5 in the last 90 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 225° at 25 knots
- Visibility
- 5 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 73 °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.