Low fuel pressure leads to an inadvertent landing in a hot air balloon.

Attributes
ACN	318341
Time
Date	199510
Day	Sat
Local Time Of Day	1801 To 2400
Place
Locale Reference	airport : clt
State Reference	NC
Altitude	agl bound lower : 100 agl bound upper : 100
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Operator	general aviation : personal
Make Model Name	Balloon
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	cruise other
Flight Plan	None
Person 1
Affiliation	Other
Function	flight crew : single pilot
Qualification	pilot : instrument pilot : commercial pilot : cfi pilot : atp
Experience	flight time last 90 days : 10 flight time total : 7000 flight time type : 500
ASRS Report	318341
Events
Anomaly	other anomaly other anomaly other
Independent Detector	other flight crewa
Resolutory Action	none taken : detected after the fact other
Consequence	Other
Supplementary
Primary Problem	Flight Crew Human Performance
Air Traffic Incident	Pilot Deviation

Narrative:

Flying low looking for a landing spot with fire ii burning. Fuel pressure dropped on tank in use but pilot could not discern low flame in main burner due to fire ii flame masking main burner flame. After inadvertent touchdown, fire ii was shut off and it was determined that main burner had low fuel pressure. After tanks were switched, fuel pressure and burner operated ok. Suggest that fire ii not be used when flying low during landing mode.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: LOW FUEL PRESSURE LEADS TO AN INADVERTENT LNDG IN A HOT AIR BALLOON.

Narrative: FLYING LOW LOOKING FOR A LNDG SPOT WITH FIRE II BURNING. FUEL PRESSURE DROPPED ON TANK IN USE BUT PLT COULD NOT DISCERN LOW FLAME IN MAIN BURNER DUE TO FIRE II FLAME MASKING MAIN BURNER FLAME. AFTER INADVERTENT TOUCHDOWN, FIRE II WAS SHUT OFF AND IT WAS DETERMINED THAT MAIN BURNER HAD LOW FUEL PRESSURE. AFTER TANKS WERE SWITCHED, FUEL PRESSURE AND BURNER OPERATED OK. SUGGEST THAT FIRE II NOT BE USED WHEN FLYING LOW DURING LNDG MODE.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.