THE PLT OF A HOT AIR BALLOON FLIES OVER POPULATED AREAS WHILE LOOKING FOR A PLACE TO SET HIS CRAFT DOWN AFTER MISSING THE CUL-DE-SAC THAT WAS HIS FIRST INTENDED LNDG PLACE NEAR I68; OH.

Date: 2001-10 · Aircraft: Balloon · Phase: approach

Anomalies: deviation-altitude-undershoot|deviation-track-heading-all-types|deviation-discrepancy-procedural-far|inflight-event-encounter-loss-of-aircraft-control|inflight-event-encounter-unstabilized-approach|inflight-event-encounter-cftt-cfit|other-prox-of-obs-buildings-pop-area

Synopsis

THE PLT OF A HOT AIR BALLOON FLIES OVER POPULATED AREAS WHILE LOOKING FOR A PLACE TO SET HIS CRAFT DOWN AFTER MISSING THE CUL-DE-SAC THAT WAS HIS FIRST INTENDED LNDG PLACE NEAR I68; OH.

Narrative

WHILE ATTEMPTING A LNDG OF A HOT AIR BALLOON (NOT AT AN ARPT); APCH WAS MADE TO A CUL-DE-SAC OF A SUBDIVISION. WINDS CHANGED SLIGHTLY; ENOUGH TO CAUSE A MISSED APCH. SECOND ATTEMPT; WHILE FLYING LESS THAN 100 FT INTO ANOTHER SUBDIVISION; FAILED. ANOTHER SITE WAS BEING EVALUATED (STILL FLYING LESS THAN 100 FT AGL) AND I FLEW OVER A SUBDIVISION AND ROAD AND FARM AT LOW ALTS WHILE TRYING TO EVALUATE ALTERNATE SITES. I NOTICED ANOTHER ACFT CIRCLING MY ACFT; WHICH CAUSED ALARM TO ME. I FELT THE OTHER ACFT WAS OBSERVING MY FLT AND LOW FLT ALT WHILE I WAS SEARCHING FOR A SUITABLE LNDG FIELD. I FEEL THAT I WAS NOT BREAKING ANY FARS SINCE I WAS LNDG AND MY TOTAL FLT TIME AT 100 FT OR BELOW WAS FOR LESS THAN 5 MINS. ANOTHER ACFT (C172 OR C152) CIRCLING ABOUT ME CAUSED ME TO THINK WHAT THE OTHER PLT MIGHT HAVE BEEN THINKING. CONTRIBUTING FACTORS: ANXIETY. CORRECTIVE ACTIONS: ATTEMPTED TO INCREASE ALT WHILE LOOKING FOR THE FINAL LNDG SITE. CHANGING ALT CAUSED ME TO 'LOSE MY FLT LINE.' BALLOONS TRAVEL WITH WINDS AND CAN ONLY STEER BY CHANGING ALT. BY COMPLYING WITH MINIMUM ALT REQUIREMENTS; I CHANGED TRACK AND MISSED MY LNDG SITE. FOURTH ATTEMPT WAS SUCCESSFUL.

Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.