- Date
- October 10, 1997, 09:00 local (15:00 UTC)
- Place
- Albuquerque, NM
- Injuries
- 1 serious, 3 uninjured
- Damage
- No damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N7154EAerostar S-60A
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 4, 1998
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19971010039329A
- Case key
- 20451
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 failing to follow the pilot's instructions as to the proper brace position to assume for 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
The pilot said he gave his passengers a preflight briefing that included the positions to assume during landing in the hot air balloon. After flying for about 30 minutes, a landing approach was initiated. The pilot instructed his passengers to assume the landing position, which they did. The position consists of facing the direction of travel, knees slightly bent, and grasping the handholds. The landing 'was (made) at 200 feet per minute.' The pilot (who is a physician) said that when the balloon touched down, one passenger fell to a squatting position and her foot was 'laterally rotated 45 degrees,' sustaining 'an open reduction (fracture) with internal fixation' of her ankle.
Factual narrative
On October 10, 1997, approximately 0900 mountain daylight time, an Aerostar International S-60A hot air balloon, N7154E, sustained no damage during a hard landing at Albuquerque, New Mexico. The commercial pilot and two passengers were not injured. A third passenger, however, sustained a serious injury. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed for the personal flight conducted under Title 14 CFR Part 91. The flight originated in Albuquerque approximately 0830.
The pilot said this was his second flight of the day. He gave his passengers a preflight briefing that included the positions to assume during landing. After flying for about 30 minutes, a landing approach was initiated. He instructed the passengers to assume the landing position, which they did. The position consists of facing the direction of travel, knees slightly bent, and grasping the handholds. The pilot said the landing "was (made) at 200 feet per minute." The pilot (who is a physician) said that when the balloon touched down, one passenger fell to a squatting position and her foot was "laterally rotated 45 degrees," sustaining "an open reduction (fracture) with internal fixation" of her ankle.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N7154E
- Reported as
- Aerostar S-60A
- Category
- Balloon
- Serial number
- S60A-3210
- Airframe hours
- 78
- Engine
- unknown
- Damage
- No damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Edward N. Fishman
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · January 4, 1997 · 38 hours before
- Departed
- NONE · NM
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
- 43
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Flight hours
- 116 total · 113 in this make and model · 93 as pilot in command · 10 in the last 90 days · 5 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 50° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 64 °F, dew point 50 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- ABQ
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.
Other investigations on N7154E · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.