Pilot Debrief

AEROSTAR INTERNATIONAL INC RX 8 near Page, AZ — 2023-11-04

Final reportWPR24LA029
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Date
2023-11-04
Location
Page, AZ, USA
Airport
PGA
Aircraft
AEROSTAR INTERNATIONAL INC RX 8
Registration
N50466
Category
Balloon
Highest injury
Serious
Fatalities
0
Phase of flight
Descent

Probable cause

A hard landing after both burner pilot lights extinguished during the landing approach for undetermined reasons. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's inability to relight the burner pilot lights.

Contributing factors

Contributing to the accident was the pilot's inability to relight the burner pilot lights.

NTSB narrative

The pilot of the balloon reported that while selecting an alternate landing area, both burners failed to ignite. The pilot unsuccessfully attempted to restart both burners with the piezo igniters. The pilot then took out a butane lighter to manually relight a pilot light, but he still could not relight it in time to arrest the balloon’s descent. The pilot informed the passengers that they were going to hit the ground hard. The basket hit a parked car, tilted downward momentarily, and then bounced off the road. After the basket contacted the ground and climbed 6 to 10 feet above ground level, one of the passengers fell out of the balloon and sustained a serious injury. With one fewer passenger, the balloon began to ascend. During that time, the pilot found one of the blast valves operative. No further malfunctions were observed for the duration of the flight. A functional test and burner examination was completed with no defects noted that would have precluded normal operation.

Analysis

Primary failure mode
Mechanical failure
First missed decision gate
Pilot could have chosen to land sooner after burner failure.

NTSB coding

Evidence available

  • Photos
  • 9 docket documents
View NTSB final reportView NTSB docket

Docket documents9

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