- Date
- May 8, 2005, 19:30 local (May 9, 2005, 02:30 UTC)
- Place
- Del Mar, CA
- Injuries
- 1 serious, 9 uninjured
- Damage
- No damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N3002JUltramagic N-250
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Status
- Completed · report March 26, 2007
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20050508010919A
- Case key
- 61451
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 failure to arrest the high rate of descent and an inadequate bounced landing recovery technique. a factor in the accident was the rough, uneven terrain.
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 balloon landed hard in rough, uneven terrain injuring one of the nine passengers. After departure the balloon drifted in a south easterly direction between the altitudes of 500 feet and 2,000 feet above ground level for a period of 40 minutes. The pilot briefed the passengers for landing, flew over some power lines, and landed in a construction site. The balloon had a high rate of descent when it landed and bounced, followed by a second touchdown bounce, and then came to rest. The injured passenger stated that they received a good briefing from the pilot prior to landing. She said that they landed hard in uneven terrain, bounced, landed hard a second time, bounced, and then the basket came to rest lopsided on a hillside. She said she fractured her tibia and fibula during the second landing bounce. She said she was prepared for the first landing but did not expect the bounce and second landing touchdown. The pilot indicated in the accident report that there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures with the balloon.
Factual narrative
On May 8, 2005, at 1930 Pacific daylight time, an Ultramagic N-250 hot air balloon, N3002J, landed hard in a field 2 miles east of Del Mar, California. The balloon was operated by the commercial balloon pilot under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91 as a commercial revenue sightseeing flight. One of the 9 passengers was seriously injured during the landing; the remaining 8 passengers and the pilot were not injured. The balloon was not damaged. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed. The flight departed Rancho Santa Fe, California, at 1850.
The pilot stated in the Pilot/Operator Aircraft Accident Report that the balloon departed from the Del Mar Palms area carrying 9 passengers. They drifted in a southeasterly direction between the altitudes of 500 feet and 2,000 feet above ground level (agl) for a period of 40 minutes. He briefed the passengers for landing, flew over some power lines, and landed in a construction site. The balloon had a normal first bounce followed by a second touchdown and a short skid to a stop. The passenger fractured her leg during the second touchdown.
The injured passenger stated to the National Transportation Safety Board investigator that they received a good briefing from the pilot prior to landing. She continued to state that they landed hard in uneven terrain, bounced, landed hard a second time, bounced, and then the basket came to rest lopsided on a hillside. She said she fractured her tibia and fibula during the second landing bounce. She said she was prepared for the first landing but did not expect the bounce and second landing touchdown.
The pilot indicated in the accident report that there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures of the balloon.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3002J
- Reported as
- Ultramagic N-250
- Category
- Balloon
- Serial number
- S#250-14
- Airframe hours
- 490
- Engine
- Damage
- No damage
- Flight
- Other work use · Part 91
- Operator
- Dick B Cochran
- Registered owner
- Jamie Charland
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · July 1, 2004 · 98 hours before
- Departed
- Rancho Santa Fe, CA
- Destination
- Del Mar, 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
- 50
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Last flight review
- April 1, 2005
- Flight hours
- 976 total · 9 in the last 90 days · 4 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Wind
- 300° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 63 °F, dew point 52 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.03 inHg
- Observed at
- KSAN, 16 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.