- Date
- December 2, 1989, 09:45 local (16:45 UTC)
- Place
- Chandler, AZ
- Injuries
- 1 serious, 1 minor, 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N64997Aerostar RX-7
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 5, 1991
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19891202049169A
- Case key
- 26701
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
Improper planning/decision by the pilot. Factors related to the accident were: variable and high wind conditions.
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 rprtd that during a balloon rally, he experienced a sudden shift & increase in wind velocity. He aborted the 1st 2 attempts to land. After the 3rd apch, the balloon landed hard. The passenger sustained a broken forearm as the basket bounced & was dragged across the landing area. The plt estd the wind had increased to about 20 KTS.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N64997
- Reported as
- Aerostar RX-7
- Category
- Balloon
- Engine
- Unknown UNKNOWN, unknown
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Part 91
- Operator
- Shluker, Steve
- Registered owner
- Unknown
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
- 48
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Flight hours
- 131 total · 129 in this make and model · 18 in the last 90 days · 8 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Variable at 20 knots, gusting 23
- Visibility
- 30 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 61 °F, dew point -0 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.