Piccard AX6 N2484Z

Summary

On 2 September 1985 at about 15:00 local time, a Piccard AX6 registered N2484Z was involved in an accident near Pilot Hill, California, United States. 4 people were on board and one was seriously injured. No probable cause statement is available for this record.

Date

2 September 1985 at 15:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Pilot Hill, California, United States

Coordinates

38.8002, -121.0403

Aircraft

Piccard AX6

Registration

N2484Z

Category

Balloon

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Not recorded

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

LAX85LA395

1 person was seriously injured.

The NTSB has not published a probable cause for this record. No probable cause statement is present in the source data.

Nothing about the cause is stated here that is not in the source record.

Read the full NTSB narrative

DURING INFLATION OF THE BALLOON PRIOR TO FLT, THE PLT SAID HE NOTICED A 5 KT GUST OF WIND. PLT THEN SENT A SMALL BALLOON ALOFT TO TEST THE WIND AND SAID IT 'SHOWED A SLOWING OF THE WIND' AT 60 TO 80 FT AGL & ACCEPTABLE FLT CONDITIONS. AFTER LAUNCH THE WIND SHIFTED & BEGAN MOVING THE BALLOON TOWARD A HEAVILY FORESTED AREA DEVOID OF SAFE LANDING SITES. THE PLT ELECTED TO LAND IN A CLEARING WHEN IT BECAME EVIDENT THAT THE FLT PATH WOULD NOT CHANGE. THE PLT SAID HE ACTIVATED THE TEAR-OUT PANEL ABOUT 10 FT AGL & THE BALLOON BOUNCED, PARTIALLY EJECTING A PASSENGER. THE EJECTED PASSENGER WAS RESTRAINED BY ANOTHER PASSENGER & SUBSEQUENTLY DRAGGED ALONG THE GROUND WITH THE BALLOON BASKET. THE EJECTED PASSENGER SUSTAINED A FRACTURED RIB.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.