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BFO86LA046

1986-09-14 · ROANOKE, Virginia, United States · Serious · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport ROA

Aircraft involved

Factual narrative

THE HOT AIR BALLOON WAS INVOLVED IN AN AIR SHOW FLIGHT EVENT. WHILE ENROUTE TO THE AIRPORT THE PLT STATED THAT HE ENCOUNTERED WINDS THAT FORCED HIM TO LAND SHORT OF THE ARPT. DURING THE LNDG APCH HE BECAME DISTRACTED BY SPECTATORS ON THE GROUND WHO WERE IN HIS FLIGHT PATH AND AS A RESULT DID NOT SEE POWER LINES IN TIME TO AVOID A COLLISION. THE COLLISION OCCURRED BETWEEN THE POWER LINES AND THE BALLOON SUSPENSION CABLES. THE CABLES WERE SEVERED AND THE BASKET SEPARATED FROM THE BALLOON AND THEN DESCENDED TO THE GROUND FROM A HEIGHT OF ABOUT 20 FEET. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1986_BFO86LA046.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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