- Date
- September 30, 1984, 10:00 local (15:00 UTC)
- Place
- Prairie City, IA
- Injuries
- 1 serious, 2 uninjured
- Damage
- No damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N8517LRaven S55A
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Dawn
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19840930056549A
- Case key
- 33800
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
While the hot air balloon was airborne, the surface winds increased to 13 KTS. The plt instructed both passengers to prepare for a high wind landing. Contrary to the plt's instructions, the passenger, who became injured, crouched in the bottom of the basket for the landing. The balloon bounced 3 times before coming to rest in a small ditch. During the landing, the passenger's knee struck an angular foot rail which was around the perimeter of the basket. The rail had been made of heavy, sharply angled metal. The passenger was hospitalized for a torn quadricep tendon.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8517L
- Reported as
- Raven S55A
- Category
- Balloon
- Serial number
- S55A-219
- Airframe hours
- 247
- Engine
- unknown
- Damage
- No damage
- Flight
- Part 91
- Registered owner
- Hawkeye Aero Station Society
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · October 7, 1983 · 0 hours before
- Departed
- Altoona, IA
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
- 43
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Medical
- Class 3
- Flight hours
- 205 total · 135 in this make and model · 205 as pilot in command · 15 in the last 90 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Dawn
- Wind
- 0° at 13 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.