- Date
- July 29, 1995, 08:00 local (13:00 UTC)
- Place
- Mesquite, TX
- Injuries
- 1 serious, 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Minor damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N4516RHead Balloons AX8-88
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report January 19, 1996
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19950729048799A
- Case key
- 19519
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 inadequate weather evaluation and the crewmember's failure to hold onto the basket. A factor was the high wind.
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
A sustained gust of wind of 15-20 mph dragged the basket along the ground during landing. A crewmember fell out of the basket when he stopped holding on to the basket to put his hands over his glasses. The pilot stated that he could not abort the landing due to the location of a powerline track.
Factual narrative
On July 29, 1995, at 0800 central daylight time (CDT), one crewmember received serious injuries during landing in a Head AX8-88 balloon, N4516R. The private pilot and one other crewmember were not injured. The balloon sustained minor damage. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the 14 CFR Part 91 personal flight and no flight plan was filed. The flight originated at Paschall Park in Mesquite, Texas at 0720 CDT.
In the Pilot/Operator report, the pilot stated that he experienced a "sustained gust of wind of 15-20 mph" while landing. "The high winds [drug] the balloon for about 100 feet" when one crewmember "rolled out" when "he put his hands over his glasses and quit holding to the basket." He further stated that he could not abort the landing due to the location of a "powerline track."
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4516R
- Reported as
- Head Balloons AX8-88
- Category
- Balloon
- Serial number
- 165
- Engine
- unknown
- Damage
- Minor damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Joseph Reynolds
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 31, 1995 · 4 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
- 53
- Certificate
- Private
- Medical
- Unknown
- Flight hours
- 160 total · 160 in this make and model · 160 as pilot in command · 4 in the last 90 days · 1 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 90° at 15 knots, gusting 18
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 81 °F, dew point 63 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.