- Date
- October 6, 1997, 08:00 local (14:00 UTC)
- Place
- Albuquerque, NM
- Injuries
- 1 serious, 2 uninjured
- Damage
- No damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N74056Balloon Works Firefly 8-24
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report July 31, 1998
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19971006037599A
- Case key
- 20448
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 passenger's failure to follow procedures/directives for the 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
According to the pilot, the 'approach to landing was normal.' He stated that the balloon 'touched down, bounced once, and came to a normal upright stop.' The injured passenger (the pilot's wife) reported to the Investigator-In-Charge (IIC) that 'she had her arm around an upright and was holding on very hard.' She stated to the IIC that she believed that the 'landing was not a difficult landing,' but she was having 'some difficulty with my [her] knees' and did not have them bent as the pilot had instructed. Subsequently, during the landing sequence, she fractured her arm.
Factual narrative
On October 6, 1997, approximately 0800 mountain daylight time, a Balloon Works Firefly 8-24 balloon, N74056, was not damaged during a normal landing near Albuquerque, New Mexico. The pilot and one of his passengers were not injured; however, the second passenger received serious injuries. The balloon was being operated by the owner under Title 14 CFR Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the local personal flight which originated from Albuquerque, New Mexico, approximately 30 minutes before the accident. A flight plan had not been filed.
According to the pilot, the "approach to landing was normal." He stated that the balloon "touched down, bounced once, and came to a normal upright stop." The injured passenger (the pilot's wife) reported to the Investigator-In-Charge (IIC) that "she had her arm around an upright and was holding on very hard." She stated that she believed that the "landing was not a difficult landing," but she was having "some difficulty with my [her] knees" and did not have them bent as the pilot had instructed. Subsequently, during the landing sequence, she fractured her arm.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N74056
- Reported as
- Balloon Works Firefly 8-24 (FIREFLY 8-)
- Category
- Balloon
- Serial number
- F8-078
- Airframe hours
- 1,048
- Engine
- unknown
- Damage
- No damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Charles H. Sundquist
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · June 30, 1997 · 21 hours before
- Departed
- ABQ
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
- 64
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Medical
- Unknown, Unknown
- Flight hours
- 1,657 total · 1,500 in this make and model · 1,522 as pilot in command · 27 in the last 90 days · 4 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 61 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.