- Date
- September 2, 1995, 07:30 local (13:30 UTC)
- Place
- Colorado Spgs, CO
- Injuries
- 1 serious, 1 uninjured
- Damage
- No damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N90555Balloon Works Firefly 7
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 6, 1995
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19950902049599A
- Case key
- 19568
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
An encounter with a wind shift 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 the final stage of landing, the balloon encountered a wind shift and the landing was hard. The basket remained upright, but following the landing the passenger informed the pilot he had broken his ankle. The balloon was not damaged.
Factual narrative
On September 2, 1995, at 0730 mountain daylight time, a Balloon Works Firefly 7, N90555, made a high wind landing near Colorado Springs, Colorado. The private pilot was not injured and her passenger received serious injuries. The balloon was not damaged. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for this 14 CFR Part 91 local area passenger flight and no flight plan was filed.
According to the pilot, a hard landing was conducted with the winds variable at 7 to 12 knots. Following the landing, during which the basket remained upright, the passenger told the pilot that he thought he had broken his ankle. The pilot stated she thought they had encountered a low level wind shear. However, the investigation provided no evidence that microburst/windshear conditions were present in the area during the time period when the accident occurred.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N90555
- Reported as
- Balloon Works Firefly 7
- Category
- Balloon
- Serial number
- F7-624
- Airframe hours
- 341
- Engine
- unknown
- Damage
- No damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Suzanne R. Crosley
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 30, 1995 · 40 hours before
- Departed
- COS
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
- 48
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Flight hours
- 354 total · 342 in this make and model · 343 as pilot in command · 35 in the last 90 days · 9 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 350° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 70 °F, dew point 46 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- COS
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.