ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 188067
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| Date: | Friday 10 June 2016 |
| Time: | 20:30 |
| Type: |  Cameron A-225 |
| Owner/operator: | Private |
| Registration: | N69515 |
| MSN: | 6778 |
| Year of manufacture: | 2016 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 8 hours |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1 |
| Other fatalities: | 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | None |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Livingston County, Picket Line Road, Nunda, NY -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | Standing |
| Nature: | Survey |
| Departure airport: | Letchworth, NY |
| Nunda, NY | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
At the end of a 45-minute sightseeing flight, the commercial pilot landed the balloon in a field, and the 10 passengers got out of the basket. The pilot remained in the basket and left the balloon envelope inflated while the ground crewmembers began to walk the balloon over to the cart for deflation and disassembly. Although the balloon was being weighed down and stabilized by four ground crewmembers, it started to ascend quickly. Two additional passengers joined in and attempted to hold down the basket, but it kept ascending. Three of the four ground crewmembers let go of the basket as they had been taught to do; however, one ground crewmember did not let go and was carried aloft. As the balloon rose, the pilot, who had bent down to unclasp the vent lines from the basket, looked up and became aware that the balloon was ascending and moving toward nearby trees and a powerline. He operated the burner to increase his rate of ascent so that he could climb over the obstacles. When the balloon was about 150 to 200 ft above the ground, the pilot became aware that the ground crewmember was hanging from the rope handles on the bottom of the basket. He began to vent the balloon to land, but the crewmember lost his grip and fell about 100 ft, resulting in a fatal injury. The balloon landed about 1/2 mile from the original landing site and 800 ft from the location where the crewmember fell.
Probable Cause: The ground crewmember's failure to let go of the balloon's basket when the balloon began to ascend. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's failure to maintain control of the balloon after landing, which resulted in an inadvertent takeoff.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
NTSB
FAA register: http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/NNum_Results.aspx?NNumbertxt=69515
Location
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 12-Jun-2016 23:17 | Geno | Added |
| 13-Jun-2016 19:04 | Geno | Updated [Aircraft type, Registration, Cn, Source, Damage] |
| 21-Dec-2016 19:30 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Time, Damage, Category, Investigating agency] |
| 21-Jun-2018 19:59 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Operator, Total occupants, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 22-Jun-2018 06:14 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Source] |
| 23-Jun-2018 09:44 | harro | Updated [Source, Narrative] |
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