NTSB CAROL · Event
Event IAD78DLQ12
Registry · N8938F
FAA Aircraft Registry record.
Make / Model
HUGHES 269A-1
Year of manufacture
1964 · 14 years old at event
TCDS
4H12 · SCHWEIZER RSG LLC
Engine
LYCOMING I0360 SER (180 hp)
Seats / Engines
2 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date
19640820
ADS-B equipped
Yes — Mode-S AC53EF
Registrant of record
SOUTHERN CROSS AVIATION INC
Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).
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 269A · N8938F
Damage
Substantial
Craft type
Balloon
Classification
Accident
Light condition
Dawn
Weather
VMC
Phase of flight
EG
Operator type
D
Airport
BLUE GRASS FIELD
Kind of flying
A0
Weather at impact
Sky
CLEAR
Aircraft history
Serial number
0000044-0009
Total time
4,176 hrs
Pilot
Certificate
Flight instructor (CFI)
Total hours
5,375
Age
55
Probable cause (from PRE1982.MDB)
TAILBOOM.DEMO AUTO TO LDG.
Investigator remarks
LDG ON SOFT WET GND.SLID TO SUDDEN STOP.M/R HIT
Cause factors
- 64/A/35 A PILOT IN COMMAND SELECTED UNSUITABLE TERRAIN Cause — pilot/personnel action
- 64/A/23 A PILOT IN COMMAND IMPROPER OPERATION OF FLIGHT CONTROLS Cause — pilot/personnel action
- 80/J/BA J AIRPORTS/AIRWAYS/FACILITIES WET RUNWAY 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 0439.
Source file
NTSB_1978_3_0439.txt.
Modern CAROL record on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
Beyond the agency record
Search this event elsewhere.
Pre-filled searches into the sources where news + community discussion of aviation events lives. External sources are reported, not agency. Treat them as signal that something happened, not as fact about what happened.
Entity-clustered aviation events in the press — last 24 hr + 30-day archive.
Official agency record + docket.
Investigative docket: factual reports, photos, transcripts.
Long-running aviation incident database (Flight Safety Foundation).
Community NTSB synthesis blog — often has photos and witness reports.
Gold-standard aviation incident blog.
Aviation industry news search.
GA pilot forum — informed but rumor-prone.
GA pilot subreddit search.
Tail-number page — flight history (free tier limited).
AOPA Air Safety Institute search.
Mainstream press coverage. Recent events only.
Privacy-preserving news search.
External links open in a new tab. We don't ingest their content; we deep-link search queries.