- Date
- July 18, 2015, 08:45 local (15:45 UTC)
- Place
- Hidden Valley Lake, CA
- Injuries
- 3 serious, 17 uninjured
- Damage
- No damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N938BSKubicek BB100Z
- Defining event
- Landing: Hard landing
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report January 5, 2016
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- General Aviation Accidents
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- Case key
- 91611
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 balloon pilot’s deliberate hard landing to avoid power lines and trees, which resulted in serious passenger injuries.
Findings · 4
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
According to the pilot, while landing the balloon in variable wind conditions, he "deliberately made firm contact with the ground" to avoid power lines and trees ahead. The balloon then bounced about 20 ft and impacted the ground again. During the second impact, 3 of the 19 passengers sustained serious injuries; the balloon was not damaged.
Factual narrative
On July 18, 2015, about 2045 Pacific date time, a Kubicek Hot Air Balloon, N938BS, impacted the ground hard after an approach to a dirt field at Hidden Valley Lake, California. The balloon was operated by Sonoma Thunder Inc., Sebastopol, California, as a Visual Flight Rules (VFR), revenue sightseeing flight under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91, when the accident occurred. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, 16 passengers and the pilot were not injured, and three passengers were seriously injured. The balloon came to a stop after its second impact with the ground. The pilot reported that he was landing the four burner hot air balloon in variable wind conditions, and he "deliberately made firm contact with the ground", in order to avoid power line wires and trees. During the landing, the basket impacted the ground, bounced approximately 20 feet in the air for a distance of 50 feet to the north-northwest, where it impacted again and remained in contact with the ground. The pilot stated, "When the balloon landed after the bounce, the passengers were caught off guard, and some of the passengers fell on top of each other". Three of the passengers were treated for serious injuries. The hot air balloon was not damaged. The pilot opined, "Both of (the) contacts with the ground were hard but not abnormal and quite similar to deliberate or aggressive landings made during my past piloting experiences."
Aircraft
- Registration
- N938BS
- Reported as
- Kubicek BB100Z
- Category
- Balloon
- Serial number
- 914
- Built
- 2012
- Airframe hours
- 339.1
- Engine
- unknown
- Damage
- No damage
- Flight
- Other work use · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Balloon
- Last inspection
- Continuous airworthiness · March 6, 2015
- Departed
- Hidden Valley, CA
- Destination
- Hidden Valley, CA
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
- 55
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Last flight review
- July 7, 2015
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- None
- Flight hours
- 6,550 total · 331 in this make and model · 6,455 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 1,800 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 63 °F, dew point 54 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.93 inHg
- Observed at
- KSTS, 21 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on November 17, 2015, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 633 KB in all.