Aerostar S-71A N5285M

Summary

On 15 February 2003 at about 17:15 local time, a Aerostar S-71A registered N5285M, operated by Adventures OUT West, was involved in an accident near Scottsdale, Arizona, United States. 6 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

15 February 2003 at 17:15

Classification

Accident

Location

Scottsdale, Arizona, United States

Coordinates

33.7333, -111.9333

Aircraft

Aerostar S-71A

Registration

N5285M

Category

Balloon

Operator

Adventures OUT West

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Other Work Use

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Scottsdale → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

LAX03LA099

Nobody was injured.

the pilot's inadequate in-flight decision to cross over four sets of power lines with the existence of a known low fuel state and lack of wind, and failure to maintain altitude/clearance from the power lines during the landing, which resulted in the envelope contacting high voltage power lines.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot made an emergency landing between power lines. Once the basket touched down, the envelope contacted high voltage lines and the voltage/spark arced to the ground. The envelope and basket sustained substantial damage. The pilot obtained local area weather briefings. He indicated that at the time of the accident there were no winds, and he was using more fuel than normal due to the lack of winds. The pilot noted a low fuel state and was crossing over power lines to get to an open space for landing. The balloon had crossed over three sets of power lines, when the pilot noted that he wasn't going to cross safely over the last set. He saw an open space between the third and fourth set of power lines and made an emergency landing. The pilot stated that he and the passengers did not feel voltage/spark in the basket.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.