Head Balloons AX8-88 N4522E

Summary

On 24 July 2023 at about 01:24 local time, a Head Balloons AX8-88 registered N4522E was involved in an accident near Guilford, Connecticut, United States. 4 people were on board. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

24 July 2023 at 01:24

Classification

Accident

Location

Guilford, Connecticut, United States

Nearest airport

Fairground (NONE)

Coordinates

41.2795, -72.6763

Aircraft

Head Balloons AX8-88

Registration

N4522E

Category

Balloon

Year built

1992

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Aerial Observation

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Not recorded

Weather

VMC

Light

Night

NTSB number

ERA23LA315

Injuries not recorded.

The pilot’s inadequate supervision of the boarding process and the ground crewmember’s failure to immediately let go of the balloon after it began an inadvertent climb.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot had been operating the hot air balloon for several hours and was providing tethered flights to passengers at a fairground during a night event. The pilot described that at the conclusion of a several minute flight, he would land and exchange passengers. To maintain the weight of the balloon during the passenger exchange, one passenger would disembark and then would be replaced by a boarding passenger. There were also several (volunteer) ground crewmembers who would keep their weight on the balloon’s basket and help control the flow of passengers in and out of the basket. Shortly before the accident, the pilot was assisting a passenger with boarding when two passengers unexpectedly disembarked. The balloon suddenly started to rise, and the pilot yelled, “clear, watch the ropes,” which was the signal to the ground crewmembers to take their hands off the basket and to make sure that none of the exiting passengers got caught in the tether ropes. As the balloon rose, the pilot felt a shake, and when he looked over the side of the basket, he saw one of the ground crewmembers lying on the ground. One of the passengers described that when she stepped off the balloon, it began rising. She saw a ground crewmember hanging on the outside of the basket as it climbed. When the balloon reached about 15 to 20 feet above the ground, the ground crewmember let go. The ground crewmember was seriously injured during the fall.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.