- Date
- July 8, 1995, 07:00 local (13:00 UTC)
- Place
- Littleton, CO
- Injuries
- 1 serious, 1 uninjured
- Damage
- No damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N2232HBalloon Works Firefly 7
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 24, 1995
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19950708017179A
- Case key
- 19483
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 failure of the pilot to maintain control of the balloon during landing.
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 normal landing, following a 30 minute flight, the gondola tipped on its side trapping the pilot's right arm under the gondola. The pilot sustained a fracture to the right forearm, the balloon was not damaged.
Factual narrative
On July 8, 1995, at 0700 mountain daylight time, the pilot of a Balloon Works Firefly 7 Balloon, N2232H, sustained serious injuries during landing in Littleton, Colorado. The balloon was not damaged on this local area personal flight which departed Chatfield Reservoir Park, Littleton, Colorado, at 0630. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed.
According to the pilot, the basket tipped on its side during the landing in a residential area and trapped her arm underneath causing her to sustain a fracture to the right forearm. Reported wind at the nearest facility, 7 miles east of the accident site, was 190 degrees at 5 knots.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N2232H
- Reported as
- Balloon Works Firefly 7
- Category
- Balloon
- Serial number
- 7779
- Airframe hours
- 309
- Engine
- unknown
- Damage
- No damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Myron E. Kayton
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · December 2, 1994 · 19 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
- 41
- Certificate
- Private
- Flight hours
- 36 total · 16 as pilot in command · 1 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 190° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 50 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 64 °F, dew point 41 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- APA, 7 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.