NTSB CAROL · Event
Event OAK79DVG13
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 369C · N8696F
Damage
Substantial
Craft type
Balloon
Classification
Accident
Light condition
Dawn
Weather
VMC
Phase of flight
EI
Operator type
Personal/private
Airport
MONTAGUE-YREKA
Kind of flying
B1
Weather at impact
Sky
UNKNOWN/NOT REPORTED
Aircraft history
Serial number
000012507885
Total time
1,048 hrs
Pilot
Certificate
Commercial
Total hours
6,130
Age
33
Probable cause (from PRE1982.MDB)
MR BLADES CUT OFF TAILBOOM.
Investigator remarks
DRNG LDG HELI WENT INTO MUD,CAME TO SUDDEN STOP,
Cause factors
- 64/A/35 A PILOT IN COMMAND SELECTED UNSUITABLE TERRAIN Cause — pilot/personnel action
- 83/A/A A TERRAIN WET,SOFT GROUND Cause — pilot/personnel action
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 0174.
Source file
NTSB_1979_3_0174.txt.
Modern CAROL record on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
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