Pilot Debrief

CAMERON N105 - NO SERIES near Albuquerque, NM — 2013-10-05

Final reportCEN14LA005
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Date
2013-10-05
Location
Albuquerque, NM, USA
Aircraft
CAMERON N105 - NO SERIES
Registration
N4113T
Category
Balloon
Highest injury
Serious
Fatalities
0
Phase of flight
Approach

Probable cause

The pilot's decision to land the balloon from a high approach altitude due to high winds, which resulted in a hard landing.

NTSB narrative

The pilot took off with several other balloons as part of that day's Dawn Patrol flight at the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. Throughout the flight, the pilot changed altitude several times to find an average wind between 18 and 26 mph. The sun was coming up, and the pilot saw other Dawn Patrol pilots starting to land. As he descended to near-treetop level for his landing approach to a golf course, the balloon experienced a false heavy condition (when descending into a faster moving air mass or wind shear, the air flow over the balloon pulls the balloon down) in which the balloon descended sooner than the pilot wanted. He applied the burners to avoid a house and power lines. As the balloon came back down, the pilot saw that the wind was about 22 mph. The pilot and the two passengers got down in the basket in preparation for the high-wind landing. About 20 feet above the ground, the pilot shut off the burners, pulled open the vent, and the balloon hit the ground flat and square. The basket tipped over and dragged about 25 feet before stopping. About 13 minutes before the accident the weather conditions at the nearest aviation weather station included wind from 360 degrees at 9 knots.

Analysis

Primary failure mode
Controlled flight into terrain
First missed decision gate
Pilot could have chosen a different landing site earlier to avoid high winds.

NTSB coding

Evidence available

  • 3 docket documents
View NTSB final reportView NTSB docket

Docket documents3

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