- Date
- March 16, 1997, 07:45 local (14:45 UTC)
- Place
- Tucson, AZ
- Injuries
- 1 serious, 1 minor, 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N71150Aerostar RX7
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 21, 1998
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19970316003259A
- Case key
- 29743
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
failure of the pilot to maintain safe altitude/clearance from another balloon, while landing in a crowded area.
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
According to the other balloon pilots, who witnessed the accident, the pilot was landing in a crowded area and made what appeared to be a normal landing. The balloon bounced, and then collided with an unoccupied and standing balloon. No adverse weather conditions were noted by the witnesses.
Factual narrative
On March 16, 1997, at 0745 hours mountain standard time, an Aerostar RX7 balloon, N71150, participating in a hot air balloon rally, collided with another balloon during landing in Tucson, Arizona. The balloon was substantially damaged. The pilot/owner was seriously injured, one passenger had minor injuries, and the other passenger was not injured. Visual meterological conditions existed for the local hot air balloon rally that originated at 0730.
According to the pilot, participants in the hot air balloon rally received full weather briefings for Ryan Field Airport, Davis-Montham AFB, and the Ina Road Heliport, all in Tucson, before the rally began. In a telephone interview, the pilot reported the winds were forecasted at 7 knots until 1200. He stated that he had flown both Friday and Saturday and the weather conditions were good, and that Sunday seemed like the weather would be more of the same. He realized that the wind was in fact gusting to 20 knots, and made the decision to land. The balloon came in too fast and low and hit hard. On landing the pilot's leg went through the gondola. During the touchdown sequence, the gondola twisted, lifted off at an angle, caught the edge of another balloon already on the ground, ripping holes in the other balloon's envelope. No one else on the ground was injured. The pilot and passengers of the other balloon were not in the balloon during the accident sequence.
According to the other pilots who witnessed the accident, the pilot was landing in a crowded area and made what appeared to be a normal landing, bounced, and then collided with the other balloon. No adverse weather conditions were noted by the witness.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N71150
- Reported as
- Aerostar RX7
- Category
- Balloon
- Serial number
- 3309
- Airframe hours
- 96
- Engine
- unknown
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Ronald E. Aros
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 16, 1996 · 47 hours before
- Departed
- 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
- 48
- Certificate
- Private
- Medical
- Unknown, Unknown
- Flight hours
- 100 total
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 130° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 61 °F, dew point 34 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- TUS
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.