BFO87LA063

1987-09-07 · RICHMOND, Virginia, United States · Serious · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport RIC

Aircraft involved

N37526 Balloon Works Firefly 7 Serious

Factual narrative

THE BALLOON WAS 10TH TO TAKEOFF IN A HOUND-&-HARE COMPETITION. DRG FLT, THE PLT NOTICED THE WIND HAD PICKED UP & THAT THE BALLOON WAS DRIFTING TOWARDS RICHMOND. HE DECIDED TO LAND IN A CEMETERY & BRIEFED THE PASSENGERS THAT THE BALLOON WOULD TOUCH DOWN HARD & MOST LIKELY BE DRAGGED. DRG THE LANDING, ONE OF THE PASSENGERS SUSTAINED A BROKEN ANKLE. THE BALLOON DRIFTED INTO A FENCE & A POWER LINE & RECEIVED MINOR DAMAGE. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1987_BFO87LA063.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

Search this event elsewhere

External sources are reported, not agency: signal that something happened, not fact about what happened.