NTSB CAROL · Event
Event FTW78FQG29
Aircraft involved
Historical record (pre-1982)
NTSB recorded this accident in the pre-1982 coded-field schema — structured fields rather than free-text narrative. Decoded codes use established NTSB single-letter taxonomies; cause factors remain verbatim pending the Form 6120.4 codebook lookup.
Aircraft
HUGHES 369HS · N9066F
Damage
Destroyed
Craft type
Balloon
Classification
Accident
Light condition
Dawn
Weather
VMC
Phase of flight
Takeoff — initial climb (C1)
Operator type
Business
Kind of flying
B2
Weather at impact
Sky
CLEAR
Wind
315° / 10 kt
Temp
70° F
Aircraft history
Serial number
00000110276S
Total time
1,400 hrs
Pilot
Certificate
Commercial
Total hours
5,551
Age
64
Probable cause (from PRE1982.MDB)
LEW INTO LOCAL WHIRLWIND.
Investigator remarks
ACFT TURNED DOWNWIND AT LOW ALT AFTER TKOF AND F
Cause factors
- 64/A/27 A PILOT IN COMMAND IMPROPER IN-FLIGHT DECISIONS OR PLANNING Cause — pilot/personnel action
- 82/J/N J WEATHER LOCAL WHIRLWIND Joint cause
- 83/J/I J TERRAIN HIGH OBSTRUCTIONS Joint cause
Decoded against the NTSB Form 6120.4 cause-factor codebook (ct_Pre1982 table). Each row shows the raw triplet, modifier (Cause / Factor / etc.), category, and specific code.
Source: NTSB pre-1982 historical archive. Docket
3 0668.
Source file
NTSB_1978_3_0668.txt.
Modern CAROL record on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
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