Head Balloons AX8-88 N380P
14 April 1997 · San Diego, California, United States · Serious injuries
Summary
On 14 April 1997 at about 01:53 local time, a Head Balloons AX8-88 registered N380P was involved in an accident near San Diego, California, United States. 3 people were on board and 3 were seriously injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.
The record
- Date
- at 01:53
- Classification
- Accident
- Location
- San Diego, California, United States
- Coordinates
- 32.9502, -117.1906
- Aircraft
- Head Balloons AX8-88
- Registration
- N380P
- Category
- Balloon
- Operator
- Not recorded
- Operating rule
- Part 91: General Aviation
- Purpose of flight
- Personal
- Phase of flight
- Not recorded
- Route
- Spring Valley → Unknown
- Aircraft damage
- Substantial
- Weather
- VMC
- Light
- Day
- NTSB number
- LAX97LA159
People
3 people were seriously injured.
| On board | Died | Serious | Minor | Uninjured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
Probable cause
The pilot's decision to increase sink rate to avoid flying into an obstacle with insufficient altitude remaining to reduce the sink rate prior to impact with the ground.
Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.
Read the full NTSB narrative
The pilot of the hot air balloon intentionally induced a high sink rate to avoid power lines with insufficient altitude remaining to return to a nominal sink rate prior to impact with the ground. All occupants were ejected from the basket, and the balloon then drifted away until it was brought to rest by contact with some nearby power lines.
Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.
Other Head Balloons AX8 accidents
| Date | Aircraft | Location | Operator | Outcome | Died |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 29 Jul 1995 | Head Balloons AX8-88 | Mesquite, Texas, United States | - | Serious injuries | - |
| 20 Jul 1993 | Head Balloons AX8-105 | Jacksonville, Florida, United States | - | Serious injuries | - |
| 5 Jul 2002 | Head Balloons AX8-88 | Victor, Idaho, United States | - | No injuries | - |
| 9 Aug 2004 | Head Balloons AX8-88 | Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States | - | Serious injuries | - |
| 16 Apr 1989 | Head Balloons AX8-88 | Troy, Texas, United States | - | Serious injuries | - |
| 12 Jun 2006 | Head Balloons AX8-88 | Gretna, Nebraska, United States | - | Serious injuries | - |
Other accidents in this area
| Date | Aircraft | Location | Operator | Outcome | Died |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24 Aug 1997 | Airbus A300 B4-203 | Los Angeles, California, United States | Pan American World Airways, In | No injuries | - |
| 15 Aug 1997 | Bell UH-1H | Tahoe City, California, United States | Usda / Forest Service | Minor injuries | - |
| 11 Oct 1997 | Cessna 152 | Julian, California, United States | Plus One Flyers, Inc. | Fatal | 1 |
| 11 Oct 1997 | Schweizer 2-32 | Warner Springs, California, United States | - | Fatal | 1 |
| 12 Oct 1997 | Bellanca 7ECA | Tracy, California, United States | - | Fatal | 1 |
| 26 Oct 1997 | Extra Flugzeugbau EA-300 | Castaic, California, United States | - | Fatal | 2 |