- Date
- March 23, 1984, 18:30 local (Mar 24, 1984, 01:30 UTC)
- Place
- Phoenix, AZ
- Injuries
- 2 serious, 3 minor, 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Minor damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N36104Balloon Works Fire FLY 8-24
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19840323009019A
- Case key
- 24212
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
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 plt took off on a sight-seeing balloon flt with 5 passengers whose ages were reportedly from 65 to 83 yrs old. About 1 hr & 15 mins later, he landed on desert terrain in winds that he estimated were aprx 10 KTS gusting to 15 KTS. During touchdown, the basket descend into vegetation & tipped over onto its side. The plt had instructed the passengers to move to the back of the basket, brace themselves & to squat down just prior to touchdown. However, several passengers stood up & extended their arms upward to brace themselves. When the basket tipped over, 1 of the passenger's arms was caught beneath it. Several other passengers fell on top of the others. One of the passengers suffered a broken wrist; another suffered 3 broken ribs. The seriously injured passengers were 70 & 83 yrs of age.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N36104
- Reported as
- Balloon Works Fire FLY 8-24 (FIRE FLY 8)
- Category
- Balloon
- Serial number
- F8-006
- Airframe hours
- 123
- Engine
- unknown
- Damage
- Minor damage
- Flight
- Aerial observation · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Wicks Enterprise, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · November 3, 1983 · 23 hours before
- Departed
- Glendale, AZ
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
- 37
- Certificates
- Private, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Flight hours
- 1,986 total · 18 in this make and model · 1,829 as pilot in command · 42 in the last 90 days · 27 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 40° at 10 knots, gusting 15
- Visibility
- 60 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 79 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.