Aerostar RX 8 N50466
4 November 2023 · Page, Arizona, United States · Serious injuries
Summary
On 4 November 2023 at about 15:50 local time, a Aerostar RX 8 registered N50466 was involved in an accident near Page, Arizona, United States. 3 people were on board and one was seriously injured. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.
The record
- Date
- at 15:50
- Classification
- Accident
- Location
- Page, Arizona, United States
- Nearest airport
- Page Muni (PGA)
- Coordinates
- 36.9163, -111.4550
- Aircraft
- Aerostar RX 8
- Registration
- N50466
- Category
- Balloon
- Year built
- 2003
- Operator
- Not recorded
- Operating rule
- Part 91: General Aviation
- Purpose of flight
- Personal
- Phase of flight
- Not recorded
- Route
- Page City Park → Unknown
- Aircraft damage
- Not recorded
- Weather
- VMC
- Light
- Day
- NTSB number
- WPR24LA029
People
1 person was seriously injured.
| On board | Died | Serious | Minor | Uninjured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
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.
Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.
Read the full 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.
Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.
Other Aerostar RX-8 accidents
| Date | Aircraft | Location | Operator | Outcome | Died |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 Jul 2023 | Aerostar RX 8 | Canandaigua, New York, United States | - | Serious injuries | - |
| 8 Jun 2022 | Aerostar RX 8 | Hot Springs, South Dakota, United States | - | Serious injuries | - |
| 6 Oct 2025 | Aerostar RX 8 | Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States | - | No injuries | - |
| 29 Nov 2020 | Aerostar RX 8 | St. George, Utah, United States | Scott J. Gneiting | Serious injuries | - |
| 15 Aug 2020 | Aerostar RX 8 | Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States | Ken Tuley | Serious injuries | - |
| 2 Oct 2016 | Aerostar RX-8 | Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States | - | Minor injuries | - |
Other accidents in this area
| Date | Aircraft | Location | Operator | Outcome | Died |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26 Nov 2023 | Cessna 182G | Casa Grande, Arizona, United States | Altimeter Inc | Minor injuries | - |
| 17 Nov 2023 | Theodore C Kalman ELA ECLIPSE 10 | Yuma, Arizona, United States | - | No injuries | - |
| 5 Aug 2023 | Boeing CH-46E | Springerville, Arizona, United States | Sky Aviation Corp | No injuries | - |
| 17 Mar 2023 | Navion NAVION A | Mesa, Arizona, United States | - | Serious injuries | - |
| 17 Mar 2023 | Fay David VELOCITY ELITE | Bullhead City, Arizona, United States | - | No injuries | - |
| 15 May 2023 | General Atomics MQ-9 BLOCK 1 | Elgin, Arizona, United States | US Customs and Border Protection | No injuries | - |