- Date
- July 20, 1982, 07:20 local (11:20 UTC)
- Place
- Winslow, ME
- Injuries
- 2 serious, 2 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N4041PFirefly 7
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report July 20, 1983
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19820720030639A
- Case key
- 73072
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 descending to land in an open field, the balloon began drifting towards high powerlines. In an attempt to avoid a collision, the pilot fired the burner approximately nine times, using short blasts of the burner. The balloon failed to gain altitude and prior to contacting the powerlines, the pilot instructed one of the passengers to pull the rip line. The rip cord, when pulled, releases the hot gases from the envelope.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4041P
- Reported as
- Firefly 7
- Category
- Balloon
- Serial number
- 7844
- Airframe hours
- 23
- Engine
- unknown
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Fire
- Both
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Wind Riders
- Registered owner
- Wind Riders
- Departed
- Winslow, ME
- Destination
- Winslow, ME
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
- 63
- Certificates
- Private, Commercial, Flight instructor
- Medical
- Unknown
- Flight hours
- 93 total · 24 in this make and model · 41 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Temperature
- 149 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.