- Date
- January 2, 1993, 08:15 local (13:15 UTC)
- Place
- Orlando, FL
- Injuries
- 1 minor, 2 uninjured
- Damage
- No damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N9056DBalloon Works Firefly 7-15
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 10, 1994
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19930102002479A
- Case key
- 33182
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the incident.
On this page
Probable cause
Poor in-flight planning/decision by the pilot, and excessive descent resulting in a hard landing.
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 stated that during an approach to a field, he observed obstacles ahead and initiated a climb to clear them. He then initiated an immediate descent for a landing in the next clearing because of obstacles at the for end of the field. The balloon landed hard, bounced, then touched down, and the gondola tipped over and was dragged for about 80 feet.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N9056D
- Reported as
- Balloon Works Firefly 7-15 (FIREFLY 7-)
- Category
- Balloon
- Serial number
- F7-727
- Airframe hours
- 128
- Engine
- unknown
- Damage
- No damage
- Flight
- Part 91
- Operator
- Garrett, Ronald L.
- Registered owner
- Garrett, Ronald L.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 2, 1992 · 45 hours before
- Departed
- NONE
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
- 55
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Medical
- Unknown
- Flight hours
- 166 total · 7 in the last 90 days · 7 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 30° at 9 knots
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 64 °F, dew point 63 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.