- Date
- September 14, 1991, 19:15 local (Sep 15, 1991, 00:15 UTC)
- Place
- Baytown, TX
- Injuries
- 1 serious, 1 uninjured
- Damage
- No damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N5182UBarnes AX 7
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 31, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19910914039859A
- Case key
- 23397
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 crewmembers improper posture during landing which led to a serious injury.
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
According to the pilot, the crewmember, and witnesses, the pilot made a normal approach and landing to an open field. The balloon bounced back up about 10 feet following the initial touchdown. The second landing was also normal and the basket came to rest in an upright position with the envelope still inflated. The crewmember stated after the first bounce, she tensed up, and on the second touchdown her left ankle folded under her. She had previously broken the same ankle in a skiing accident. There was no damage to the balloon and no injuries to the pilot who was the only other occupant.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5182U
- Reported as
- Barnes AX 7
- Category
- Balloon
- Serial number
- 114
- Airframe hours
- 26
- Engine
- unknown
- Damage
- No damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Nelson, Jack H.
- Registered owner
- Nelson, Jack H.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 7, 1991 · 5 hours before
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
- 51
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Flight hours
- 255 total · 224 in this make and model · 6 in the last 90 days · 2 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 160° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 81 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.