# NTSB WPR14CA097: Cameron Balloons US A-400, N65298, Napa, CA, December 29, 2013 - Type: NTSB accident investigation - Classification: Accident · No injuries · Data collection · Final report - Date: December 29, 2013, 08:30 local (16:30 UTC) - Place: Napa, CA - Coordinates: 38.325, -122.342781 (estimated) - Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=38.3250&lon=-122.3428&mi=10 - Phase of flight: [Enroute](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-phases/400) (OpenAirDocs' grouping) - Defining event: [Enroute-cruise: Windshear or thunderstorm](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/390) - Highest injury: No injuries - Injuries: 21 uninjured - Status: Completed, report April 23, 2014 - Report: Approved by Office Director - NTSB office: Western Pacific Region - Parties: Federal Aviation Administration - NTSB case key (mKey): 88681 - NTSB case page: https://web.ntsb.gov/investigations/?ntsbnumber=WPR14CA097 - NTSB report (PDF, downloads): https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/88681/pdf - NTSB docket: https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=88681 - Page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/WPR14CA097 ## Probable cause Failure to maintain clearance from obstacles during a descent that resulted in an inadvertent collision with a pole. ## Findings NTSB's coded findings; those marked are part of the probable cause. - [Performance/control parameters: altitude](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/01062012): Aircraft › Aircraft oper/perf/capability · Not attained/maintained (probable cause); cases with it: [Cameron Balloons US A-400, 1 case](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/01062012/cases.md?model=1880117), [All aircraft, 1,310 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/01062012/cases.md) - [Object/animal/substance: pole](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/03022010): Environmental issues › Physical environment · Response/compensation (probable cause); cases with it: [Cameron Balloons US A-400, 1 case](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/03022010/cases.md?model=1880117), [All aircraft, 142 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/03022010/cases.md) - [Wind: sudden wind shift](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/03034010): Environmental issues › Conditions/weather/phenomena · Contributed to outcome; cases with it: [Cameron Balloons US A-400, 1 case](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/03034010/cases.md?model=1880117), [All aircraft, 114 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/03034010/cases.md) ## Sequence of events The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event best describes what happened. - [Enroute-cruise: Windshear or thunderstorm](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/390) (defining event); cases with it: [Cameron Balloons US A-400, 1 case](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/390/sequence.md?model=1880117), [All aircraft, 224 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/390/sequence.md) - [Enroute-cruise: Collision with terr/obj (non-CFIT) ](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/470); cases with it: [Cameron Balloons US A-400, 3 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/470/sequence.md?model=1880117), [All aircraft, 10,189 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/470/sequence.md) ## Analysis The pilot was flying the balloon as a commercial revenue sight-seeing flight with 20 passengers on board. The pilot reported that during the inflation of the hot air balloon about 30 minutes prior to the accident, the weather was clear skies and calm wind. The pilot reported that he was about 10 minutes behind the other balloons, so he was able to observe their flight path through the valley. Prior to the accident, the pilot noted the airspeed was about 16 miles per hour, which he thought unusual for the location of the flight. As he had observed the other balloonists do, he placed his balloon in a controlled descent, with the intent of traversing the same section of the valley as the other balloons. This part of the tour would take them over the vineyards and through the center of the valley. During the controlled descent, the pilot reported that it felt like the balloon was being pushed down, which he attributed to wind shear. The bottom portion of the balloon's basket subsequently contacted the top of a 30-foot wooden power pole and simultaneously the backside of the envelope was pushed toward the burners, which caused several structural panels to be burned. The pilot continued the flight for another 1.5 miles in order to make a safe landing in a park. The pilot landed the balloon without further incident. The company indicated that the pilot received his weather briefing from the National Weather Service, but did not say at what time; only that the wind was calm. Thirty minutes before departure, recorded weather at a nearby airport indicated that the wind was calm. Approximately 30 minutes after the accident, the recorded weather at the same airport reported that the wind was from the west at 5 knots. ## Factual narrative The pilot was flying the balloon as a commercial revenue sight-seeing flight with 20 passengers on board. The pilot reported that during the inflation of the hot air balloon about 30 minutes prior to the accident, the weather was clear skies and calm wind. The pilot reported that he was about 10 minutes behind the other balloons, so he was able to observe their flight path through the valley. Prior to the accident, the pilot noted the airspeed was about 16 miles per hour, which he thought unusual for the location of the flight. As he had observed the other balloonists do, he placed his balloon in a controlled descent, with the intent of traversing the same section of the valley as the other balloons. This part of the tour would take them over the vineyards and through the center of the valley. During the controlled descent, the pilot reported that it felt like the balloon was being pushed down, which he attributed to wind shear. The bottom portion of the balloon's basket subsequently contacted the top of a 30-foot wooden power pole and simultaneously the backside of the envelope was pushed toward the burners, which caused several structural panels to be burned. The pilot continued the flight for another 1.5 miles in order to make a safe landing in a park. The pilot landed the balloon without further incident. The company indicated that the pilot received his weather briefing from the National Weather Service, but did not say at what time; only that the wind was calm. Thirty minutes before departure, recorded weather at a nearby airport indicated that the wind was calm. Approximately 30 minutes after the accident, the recorded weather at the same airport reported that the wind was from the west at 5 knots. ## Aircraft - Registration: [N65298](https://openairdocs.org/aircraft/N65298), registered now, S/N 6694, built 2013 (OpenAirDocs) - Reported make and model: CAMERON BALLOONS US A-400 (NO SERIES) - Registry model: [Cameron Balloons US A-400](https://openairdocs.org/model/cameron-balloons-us-a-400) (registry code 1880117) (OpenAirDocs) - Registry engine: [NONE](https://openairdocs.org/engine/none) (registry code 00000, none) (OpenAirDocs) - Category: Balloon - Serial number: 6694 - Year built: 2013 - Airframe hours: 90 - Damage: Substantial damage - Flight: Other work use, Part 91 - Operator: Balloons Above The Valley - Registered owner: Balloons Above The Valley - Airworthiness certificate: Standard, Balloon - Last inspection: Annual, March 8, 2013 - Departed: Napa, CA - Destination: Napa, CA - Flight plan: Unknown ## Flight crew As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names. - Pilot; age 62; injuries: none; commercial; last flight review June 15, 2012; seat: none; restraint: none; flight hours: 3,500 total, 398.5 in this make and model ## Weather - Conditions: Visual (VMC), Day - Wind: calm - Visibility: 10 statute miles - Lowest ceiling: none - Temperature: 39 °F, dew point 30 °F - Altimeter: 30.13 inHg - Observed at: APC, 8 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 (OpenAirDocs). - [Accident 20131229025239A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/20131229025239A), Dec 29, 2013: Cameron Balloons US A-400, Napa, CA, Substantial damage. Yountville, CA, N65298, Cameron A-400 balloon, encountered wind shear, struck a power line and made a hard landing at the normal landing zone in yountville at… ## Docket (2 files) The files NTSB released with the investigation on April 1, 2014, on NTSB's docket system: https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=88681. 943 KB in all. - Pilot/Operator Aircraft Accident Report, NTSB Form 6120.1 (item 1, .PDF, 893 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40410869&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=Pilot%2FOperator%20Aircraft%20Accident%20Report,%20NTSB%20Form%206120.1-Redacted.PDF - Record of Conversation - Pilot S Carroll (item 2, .PDF, 51 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40410870&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=Record%20of%20Conversation%20-%20Pilot%20S%20Carroll-Redacted.PDF From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. --- OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.