SEA97FA181

While attempting to land on the edge of an open field under near-calm conditions, the pilot allowed the balloon to settle into the top of a coniferous tree. As the balloon settled into the tree, the gondola tipped to the side and the Nomex panel and horizontal load tape around the mouth of the envelope became snagged in the tree. As the gondola tipped, the seams on approximately half of the vertical load tapes were exposed to burner heat hot enough to cause failure of the seam thread, and the remainder of the vertical load tape seams failed as the balloon and the gondola pulled against the snagged horizontal load tape. When the last vertical load tape failed, the gondola separated from the envelope. After separating from the envelope, the gondola fell through the tree and impacted the ground.

History of flight

On August 3, 1997, approximately 0705 Pacific daylight time, the gondola of a Avian Magnum IX hot air balloon, N20146, separated from the balloon envelope after coming in contact with the top of a coniferous tree near the edge of an open field near Donald, Oregon. One of the passengers received fatal injuries, and the commercial pilot and the other six passengers received serious injuries. The balloon, which was owned and operated by American Hot Airlines, sustained substantial damage. The 14 CFR Part 91 commercial flight, which departed Aurora, Oregon about 65 minutes earlier, was being maneuvered to a landing in visual meteorological conditions at the time of the accident.

On the morning of the flight, the pilot and his balloon arrived at the launch site adjacent to Isberg Mobile Home Park, near Aurora, Oregon, around 0530. With help from passengers and crew, the pilot had the balloon inflated by about 0555, and lifted off with seven passengers aboard approximately 0600. According to the pilot, his plan was to fly for 45 minutes to an one hour, land in an open field, exchange depleted fuel tanks for full ones, and then give a ride of about the same duration to a second set of passengers. After liftoff, the balloon drifted in a southerly direction, spending much of its time over or very near Interstate Highway Five (see Area Map). According to a number of passengers, as the balloon moved along the highway, the pilot varied his altitude between 200 and 1,400 feet above the ground (AGL). During the flight, the pilot explained to the passengers that he was making these altitude changes in order to find winds that would carry the balloon away from the highway and the power-lines that ran alongside the highway right of way. After approximately 50 minutes of flight, the balloon had moved about 1.3 miles south of the launch site, was just west of Highway Five, and just south of Donald Road NE. About that time, the pilot switched the balloon's burners from the two liquid tanks (nitrogen pressurized), which had been used for inflation, takeoff and maneuvering up until that time, to the two liquid/vapor tanks. According to witnesses, because of the near-calm winds, when the balloon arrived over the south edge of an open field at this location, it almost completely stopped moving horizontally. One volunteer ground crew member said "...it basically hovered over the south edge of the field..." The witnesses said that the balloon, which at that point was over a number of coniferous trees located on the southern edge of the field, eventually started to move very slowly to the north. About the same time as it began to move to the north, the balloon started to descend. Then according to the six surviving passengers, the gondola made contact with a tree. Four of the passengers said that the gondola hit, impacted, struck or went into the tree, while the two others described it as crushing the tip of the tree or brushing the tree. Soon thereafter, the gondola, with all its passengers still onboard, separated from the balloon envelope and fell down through the tree and impacted the ground. Three of the passengers recalled that after coming in contact with the tree, the gondola tipped or tilted prior to beginning its fall through the tree. The other three passengers did not make any statement about the balloon tipping or tilting, but simply remembered it falling after hitting the tree. None of the passengers recalled any tilting, tipping, or unusual/sudden movement of the gondola prior to it contacting the tree.

There were 10 witnesses on the ground who either provided written statements or were interviewed by local law enforcement officials. Six of the witness were individuals waiting to be passengers on the next flight, three were part of the ground crew for American Hot Airlines, and one was the owner of the land upon which the pilot was attempting to land. All six of the waiting passengers indicated that the balloon descended or lowered into the tree, or simply "hit" the tree. Three of these waiting passengers said that after the balloon contacted the tree, the gondola tilted before the balloon separated and the gondola fell. None of these six witness reported seeing the gondola tilt, make any unusual movements, or begin to separate from the balloon prior to the impact with the tree. The land owner said that he was watching his wife take pictures of the balloon when he heard a loud crashing noise and immediately turned toward the balloon. He said he then saw the "basket" falling down the side of the tree and thought it had "...tipped the top of the tree." He did not mention hearing any other noises prior to the breaking of the branches. Of the three ground crew members, two were volunteers and one was contracted to American Hot Airlines as a crew chief. One of the volunteers said that he was not looking at the balloon when it made contact with the tree, but heard branches breaking and looked up and saw the basket was in the tree "...coming straight down." He also said that for a short period of time he thought the balloon was going to pull the basket out of the tree, but that the balloon "ripped loose and flew up and away." The other volunteer said that the balloon had been hovering at the south end of the field, and it appeared that when the pilot started down to land he had "...no real speed forward." It appeared to this witness that as the balloon neared the tree "...the balloon appeared to hit a wind sheer." He further said that the basket went through the top foot of the tree and then seemed to be pushed down the side of the tree. He said that from where he was, he could hear the branches breaking and the balloon envelope tear as it came down.

The only on-ground witness who reported seeing any anomaly prior to the gondola contacting the tree was the crew chief who was contracted to American Hot Airlines. According to his hand-written statement, dated the day of the accident, he saw daylight between the basket and the trees, and then the "...right side of the basket dropped." He also added that the "Left side of basket broke away immediately after." Although his written statement indicates an anomaly prior to contacting the tree, the official report of Deputy Russell J. Isham, Marion County Sheriff's Office, states the following in reference to the interview of the Crew Chief (Jim):

Jim said that Schwiegart said he was preparing to throw out a drop cable to help secure the landing. Jim said he looked up and saw the balloon coming straight down toward the tree. Jim said he turned just prior to the balloon hitting the tree and told people to , "Call 9-1-1." Jim said that the balloon itself did not "fold" until after the basket hit the tree, it came straight down through the branches. Jim said he was not aware of any problems with the balloon prior to the crash.

On Saturday, September 27, 1997, approximately eight weeks after the accident, the pilot of the balloon was interviewed while still being treated in the hospital. At that time, along with a number of other questions, he was asked what the rate of fall was prior to contacting the tree. He responded that it was initially slow, similar to negative buoyancy. He was also asked how far the balloon dropped prior to contacting the tree, and he said that the balloon had started its fall from about 20 feet above the tree, and that he had activated the burners before tree contact, first just one, and then both. During the interview he did not mention anything about the balloon malfunctioning or beginning to separate from the gondola prior to contacting the tree. At a later date, the pilot was contacted again to review the accuracy of the answers transcribed from the notes taken during the initial interview. At that time, he asked that the phrase "... and prior to tree contact, the basket tipped to one side" be added to the interview transcript.

Wreckage and