- Date
- July 6, 1992, 09:35 local (15:35 UTC)
- Place
- Driggs, ID
- Injuries
- 6 uninjured
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N1613BAvian Balloon Magnum IX
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report August 31, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19920706024259A
- Case key
- 42849
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
The pilot in command's failure to insure adequate clearance. Factors contributing to the accident were: weather condition (downdraft) and object (transmission wires).
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 executing a landing in a field the pilot in command of the part 91 balloon flight descended to 60 feet AGL in the vicinity of electrical transmission lines. Just before crossing the lines the balloon suddenly descended to 30 AGL feet. The pilot in command elected to strike the wires as he believed that an ascent over the wires was not possible. During the wire strike and landing, a fire developed which consumed both the balloon and gondola.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1613B
- Reported as
- Avian Balloon Magnum IX
- Category
- Balloon
- Serial number
- 154
- Airframe hours
- 346
- Engine
- unknown
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Part 91
- Operator
- W.G.E., Inc., doing business as Rainbow Balloons
- Registered owner
- Care, Jack, Ltd.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · March 5, 1992 · 66 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
- 63
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Medical
- Unknown
- Flight hours
- 1,961 total · 1,734 in this make and model · 1,914 as pilot in command · 67 in the last 90 days · 19 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 180° at 14 knots
- Visibility
- 60 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 20,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 61 °F, dew point 45 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- IDA, 43 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.