What happened
On September 7, 2014, during the "Mongolfiades des Flandres" airshow in Haverskerque, France, two separate hot air balloon incidents occurred due to rapidly changing weather conditions. The event, organized by the Haze Aero Show, was scheduled to include evening flights following a favorable weather briefing provided to pilots at 18:00.
At approximately 19:15, the pilot of a SIGA MA 30 balloon, registration F-GNCI, decided to terminate the flight after observing a significant drop in temperature and an increase in wind speed to approximately 15 knots. During the landing, the basket rotated onto its narrow side and dragged across the ground for several dozen meters. This impact resulted in one passenger seriously injured.
Shortly thereafter, at approximately 19:40, the pilot of a Libert L3400 balloon, registration F-HCND, also terminated the flight. While attempting to land in a field, a corner of the basket struck the ground, causing the vessel to drag for roughly 60 meters. This incident resulted in two passengers seriously injured.
The investigation
The investigation examined the meteorological conditions and the operational decisions made by the flight director (DV) and the pilots. While the flight director had received favorable forecasts at 16:00, a barometric trough and a gust front moved in from the north during the evening.
Investigators noted that the flight director had interrupted the event at 19:00 after observing the weather degradation and had notified pilots already in the air. However, the investigation also looked into the regulatory requirements for the airshow, noting that the flight director's authorization for the event prohibited takeoffs if winds exceeded 10 knots.
Findings
- The primary cause of the hard landings was the insufficient consideration of wind speed effects by the pilots during the landing phase.
- A sudden increase in wind speed and a drop in temperature occurred after the initial weather briefing.
- The investigation suggested that updating the meteorological information shortly before the first takeoffs might have allowed the flight director to anticipate the need to cancel the evening sessions earlier.