- Date
- October 15, 1988, 07:45 local (11:45 UTC)
- Place
- Tampa, FL
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N65523Raven S-60A
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report January 8, 1990
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19881015069769A
- Case key
- 32344
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
Drg an apch to land, the plt saw some bushes & another balloon (which had already landed) in his intended landing area. He applied burner to soar over the obstacles, then pulled the envelope vent to quickly descend after the obstacles had been cleared. He rprtd that with no pax aboard, the reaction time of the venting process took longer than anticipated. The balloon was landed next to power lines, & subsequently, the envelope became draped over the lines. A fire erupted from contact with the lines & holes were burned in the envelope. The plt stated the balloon was too big to fly in windy conditions with only a plt aboard. He believed the acdnt could have been avoided by having more weight on board in the form of pax or ballast.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N65523
- Reported as
- Raven S-60A
- Category
- Balloon
- Serial number
- 560A-3073
- Airframe hours
- 12
- Engine
- unknown
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Orange Blossom Balloons, Inc.
- Registered owner
- Orange Blossom Balloons, Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · July 8, 1988 · 12 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
- 34
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Flight hours
- 1,480 total · 1,400 as pilot in command · 36 in the last 90 days · 15 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 140° at 7 knots, gusting 15
- Visibility
- 5 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 70 °F, dew point 68 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.