Ultramagic Sa N210 N210UM

Summary

On 14 March 2015 at about 15:20 local time, a Ultramagic Sa N210 registered N210UM was involved in an accident near Peoria, Arizona, United States. 11 people were on board and one was seriously injured. The aircraft was slightly damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

14 March 2015 at 15:20

Classification

Accident

Location

Peoria, Arizona, United States

Coordinates

33.7506, -112.2628

Aircraft

Ultramagic Sa N210

Registration

N210UM

Category

Balloon

Year built

2013

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Other Work Use

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Phoenix → Phoenix

Aircraft damage

Minor

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

GAA15LA015

1 person was seriously injured.

The pilot's selection of unsuitable terrain for landing after noting a higher-than-anticipated wind speed and the balloon's high descent rate, which resulted in a hard landing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that, halfway through the flight, he determined that the wind aloft was higher than anticipated and that the original planned landing destination was no longer suitable. While the balloon was between 3,000 and 4,000 ft mean sea level, he started looking for another landing area and noted that the surface wind had increased and changed direction since the launch; the wind aloft about this time was reported to be 26 knots. The pilot stated that, during the descent to land, the balloon was traveling "about 15 mph." During the subsequent landing in an open field, the gondola impacted the ground hard twice, followed by two small hops, and then came to a stop. One of the passengers sustained two broken ankles during the two hard landings.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.