- Date
- September 2, 1985, 08:00 local (15:00 UTC)
- Place
- Pilot Hill, CA
- Injuries
- 1 serious, 3 uninjured
- Damage
- No damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N2484ZPiccard AX6
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19850902045519A
- Case key
- 24839
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
During inflation of the balloon prior to flt, the plt said he noticed a 5 kt gust of wind. Plt then sent a small balloon aloft to test the wind and said it 'showed a slowing of the wind' at 60 to 80 ft AGL & acceptable flt conditions. After launch the wind shifted & began moving the balloon toward a heavily forested area devoid of safe landing sites. The plt elected to land in a clearing when it became evident that the flt path would not change. The plt said he activated the tear-out panel about 10 ft AGL & the balloon bounced, partially ejecting a passenger. The ejected passenger was restrained by another passenger & subsequently dragged along the ground with the balloon basket. The ejected passenger sustained a fractured rib.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N2484Z
- Reported as
- Piccard AX6
- Category
- Balloon
- Serial number
- 486
- Airframe hours
- 224
- Engine
- unknown
- Damage
- No damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Alan Ehrgott
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · October 2, 1984 · 64 hours before
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
- 33
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Flight hours
- 234 total · 234 in this make and model · 30 in the last 90 days · 11 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 360° at 5 knots, gusting 10
- Visibility
- 8 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 66 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.