Cameron Balloons O-77 N9539G

Summary

On 16 September 2007 at about 13:15 local time, a Cameron Balloons O-77 registered N9539G was involved in an accident near Creston, Iowa, United States. 2 people were on board and one was seriously injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

16 September 2007 at 13:15

Classification

Accident

Location

Creston, Iowa, United States

Coordinates

41.0497, -94.3597

Aircraft

Cameron Balloons O-77

Registration

N9539G

Category

Balloon

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Creston → Creston

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CHI07CA300

1 person was seriously injured.

The pilot's inadvertent flight into adverse (high wind) weather conditions, which resulted in a hard landing. Contributing to the accident was the high wind encountered during the balloon flight and the barbed-wire fence.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

During a high-wind landing the balloon landed hard, the pilot was ejected from the basket, and the passenger pulled the envelope deflation line. The balloon came to rest against a barbed-wire fence. The passenger was seriously injured with a broken arm and the balloon's envelope was substantially damaged with several fabric tears and punctures. The accident flight was part of an organized balloon launch in conjunction with a balloon festival. At 0630, the pilot attended a prelaunch pilot meeting that included a weather briefing. At the time of that briefing the surface wind velocity was 4 knots. The surface wind velocity was forecasted to increase to approximately 10 knots by 1000 local time. Upon departure the encountered wind was greater than forecasted. As soon as it was practicable, the pilot performed a high-wind landing to an open hayfield at which time the hard landing was encountered. At 0819, a nearby weather station reported the surface wind was from the south-southeast at 4 knots, gusting to 20 knots. During the subsequent accident investigation, a wind model estimated the wind direction and velocity at approximately 700 feet agl to be from the south at 18 knots.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.