- Date
- February 19, 1989, 08:40 local (15:40 UTC)
- Place
- Tucson, AZ
- Injuries
- 1 serious, 4 uninjured
- Damage
- No damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N767AAAerostar Raven 560
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 29, 1991
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19890219007129A
- Case key
- 26356
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
Balloon entered into a severe down draft which resulted in a hard landing due to inadequate preparation and compensation for the conditions by the balloon pilot.
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 of a Aerostar raven 560 (balloon), during the descent for landing encountered a down draft which resulted in a hard landing near Tucson, Arizona. The balloon collided with the terrain several times before finally coming to rest. The pilot said that, 'I was preparing for landing and at approximately 40 feet above ground level when I encountered a severe down draft of approximately 1000 feet per minute. I instructed the passengers to prepare for a firm landing. After hitting the ground, dragging approximately 10 yards and going airborne, we returned and struck the ground again'...one eleven year old passenger jumped out of the balloon while we were dragging across the desert'...she [this passenger] suffered a broken arm upon hitting the ground...' The pilot reported that there were no mechanical failures or malfunctions with the balloon prior to the accident.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N767AA
- Reported as
- Aerostar Raven 560
- Category
- Balloon
- Airframe hours
- 35
- Engine
- none, unknown
- Damage
- No damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Nevada High, Inc.
- Registered owner
- Nevada High, Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · February 9, 1989 · 1 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
- 54
- Certificates
- Airline transport, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Flight hours
- 10,000 total
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 190° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 52 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.