Narrative:

We traveled to coweta, ok, to fly with a group of pilot friends from the tulsa area, taking advantage of this opportunity to fly in a more 'wide open' area than we have around our home in fort smith, ar. I was giving my son his 4TH instructional flight in the balloon. We launched at approximately XX20 and maintained a steady ascent between 200- 300 FPM until we reached 3600 ft AGL in order to clear a group of tall broadcast towers. Once we were safely past the towers, we descended to approximately 400 ft AGL over a section of open land where I suggested that my student son make a touch-and-go landing approach. He was a little reluctant to vent heat out of the balloon to initiate his descent, and by the time we finally got within 50 ft of the surface we were approaching the far edge of the property, which was bounded by a road and a set of power lines, so I instructed him to abort that attempt. As I told him to do, so he climbed slightly and passed over the power lines in level flight. Then, once we were over the next open field, I suggested that he try again to make a touch-and-go landing. Once again, when he vented the balloon, not enough heat was released to initiate a steep enough descent. I took the vent line and demonstrated the necessary duration of venting to create the desired descent rate. As we reached ground level, however, the surface wind gusted slightly. We were approaching a small tree, so I instructed him to heat the balloon again, pointing out that we could have landed there if we had really needed to, but it was safer to abort and try again in the field just over the next tree line. At this time we noticed that there was a small set of power lines partially concealed by trees along the property line ahead of us. After he heated the balloon, we began to climb more quickly than I felt we should. I asked him to vent a little of the heat so that we did not get too high, which might cause us to miss the next field. As he was venting, I was surveying the nearing field. I noted that it was nicely mowed, with a paved road (driveway) through it, an open gate and no visible livestock. It looked like the perfect place to terminate our flight, since it was nearing sunset. As I turned to suggest this to my son, I saw that we were dropping rapidly. I had looked away while he was venting and did not realize that he had held the vent line open too long. We were coming straight down over the small power lines that we had seen in the treeline. Since we were above trees and could not 'rip out' the balloon to land before reaching the power line, he attempted to heat the balloon to arrest the descent. The gust of wind that had pushed us over the last field had now calmed, and our ground speed had slowed to almost zero (it may have been 1-2 mph). In spite of the heat applied we continued to descend directly toward the power line. When we were only a few ft from making contact, we shut off the gas valves and braced for contact. The suspension cables connecting our basket to the balloon envelope touched the power wires about 4 ft above our heads. There was a single small flash as electricity arced from the wires to our suspension cables. The balloon descended a few more ft, our forward motion arrested by the wires, and then we rose up and over the wires, and landed intact just past the trees and power line. There were no injuries, and only minor damage to the balloon, consisting of a half-dollar size hole burned in the fabric of our 'dipper' skirt and slight damage to 3 of the suspension cables -- just enough to make us replace them. Electrical service to the home on the property was interrupted for about 1 hour. I spoke to the land owners and found them to be very understanding and sympathetic to our situation. They did not appear to be upset about losing their electricity at all. The incident, as I see it, had several components: 1) it had been several months since my son's last training flight, so he was not as comfortable at the controls as I judged him to be. (He had performed every task perfectly up until the landing approach, and showed no visible signs of nervousness.) 2) I failed to give step-by-step instructions for the landing approach. I expected him to know what to do, and thought that at the worst I might have to give an extra pull on the vent myself, in light of his previous tendency to not vent quite enough. 3) the varying speed of the surface winds (which we had measured before we launched to be between 0-8 mph), while not being strong enough to be considered unsafe, made it difficult to gauge the necessary rate of descent for an approach to the field. If the gust had not died out like it did, I feel certain that we would have cleared the wires without a problem. 4) my momentary lapse of attention as he vented the balloon combined with his determination to not miss another landing attempt. He over-vented partly because he was eager to prove that he could perform this task, but mostly because I failed to give him step-by- step instructions. Before beginning another training flight, I will discuss the mechanical aspects of flying the balloon in more detail, and will include specific instructions such as 'pull the vent line down about 2 ft and hold it for 2 seconds, then release' rather than saying simply 'vent it a little.' where I previously felt that because my son had flown on so many occasions with myself and other pilots, such instruction might seem condescending to him, I now believe that specific verbal instructions are really important to connect the observed motions with the thought processes.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: HOT AIR BALLOON INSTRUCTOR AND TRAINEE HIT A PWR LINE DURING A LNDG ATTEMPT.

Narrative: WE TRAVELED TO COWETA, OK, TO FLY WITH A GROUP OF PLT FRIENDS FROM THE TULSA AREA, TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THIS OPPORTUNITY TO FLY IN A MORE 'WIDE OPEN' AREA THAN WE HAVE AROUND OUR HOME IN FORT SMITH, AR. I WAS GIVING MY SON HIS 4TH INSTRUCTIONAL FLT IN THE BALLOON. WE LAUNCHED AT APPROX XX20 AND MAINTAINED A STEADY ASCENT BTWN 200- 300 FPM UNTIL WE REACHED 3600 FT AGL IN ORDER TO CLR A GROUP OF TALL BROADCAST TWRS. ONCE WE WERE SAFELY PAST THE TWRS, WE DSNDED TO APPROX 400 FT AGL OVER A SECTION OF OPEN LAND WHERE I SUGGESTED THAT MY STUDENT SON MAKE A TOUCH-AND-GO LNDG APCH. HE WAS A LITTLE RELUCTANT TO VENT HEAT OUT OF THE BALLOON TO INITIATE HIS DSCNT, AND BY THE TIME WE FINALLY GOT WITHIN 50 FT OF THE SURFACE WE WERE APCHING THE FAR EDGE OF THE PROPERTY, WHICH WAS BOUNDED BY A ROAD AND A SET OF PWR LINES, SO I INSTRUCTED HIM TO ABORT THAT ATTEMPT. AS I TOLD HIM TO DO, SO HE CLBED SLIGHTLY AND PASSED OVER THE PWR LINES IN LEVEL FLT. THEN, ONCE WE WERE OVER THE NEXT OPEN FIELD, I SUGGESTED THAT HE TRY AGAIN TO MAKE A TOUCH-AND-GO LNDG. ONCE AGAIN, WHEN HE VENTED THE BALLOON, NOT ENOUGH HEAT WAS RELEASED TO INITIATE A STEEP ENOUGH DSCNT. I TOOK THE VENT LINE AND DEMONSTRATED THE NECESSARY DURATION OF VENTING TO CREATE THE DESIRED DSCNT RATE. AS WE REACHED GND LEVEL, HOWEVER, THE SURFACE WIND GUSTED SLIGHTLY. WE WERE APCHING A SMALL TREE, SO I INSTRUCTED HIM TO HEAT THE BALLOON AGAIN, POINTING OUT THAT WE COULD HAVE LANDED THERE IF WE HAD REALLY NEEDED TO, BUT IT WAS SAFER TO ABORT AND TRY AGAIN IN THE FIELD JUST OVER THE NEXT TREE LINE. AT THIS TIME WE NOTICED THAT THERE WAS A SMALL SET OF PWR LINES PARTIALLY CONCEALED BY TREES ALONG THE PROPERTY LINE AHEAD OF US. AFTER HE HEATED THE BALLOON, WE BEGAN TO CLB MORE QUICKLY THAN I FELT WE SHOULD. I ASKED HIM TO VENT A LITTLE OF THE HEAT SO THAT WE DID NOT GET TOO HIGH, WHICH MIGHT CAUSE US TO MISS THE NEXT FIELD. AS HE WAS VENTING, I WAS SURVEYING THE NEARING FIELD. I NOTED THAT IT WAS NICELY MOWED, WITH A PAVED ROAD (DRIVEWAY) THROUGH IT, AN OPEN GATE AND NO VISIBLE LIVESTOCK. IT LOOKED LIKE THE PERFECT PLACE TO TERMINATE OUR FLT, SINCE IT WAS NEARING SUNSET. AS I TURNED TO SUGGEST THIS TO MY SON, I SAW THAT WE WERE DROPPING RAPIDLY. I HAD LOOKED AWAY WHILE HE WAS VENTING AND DID NOT REALIZE THAT HE HAD HELD THE VENT LINE OPEN TOO LONG. WE WERE COMING STRAIGHT DOWN OVER THE SMALL PWR LINES THAT WE HAD SEEN IN THE TREELINE. SINCE WE WERE ABOVE TREES AND COULD NOT 'RIP OUT' THE BALLOON TO LAND BEFORE REACHING THE PWR LINE, HE ATTEMPTED TO HEAT THE BALLOON TO ARREST THE DSCNT. THE GUST OF WIND THAT HAD PUSHED US OVER THE LAST FIELD HAD NOW CALMED, AND OUR GND SPD HAD SLOWED TO ALMOST ZERO (IT MAY HAVE BEEN 1-2 MPH). IN SPITE OF THE HEAT APPLIED WE CONTINUED TO DSND DIRECTLY TOWARD THE PWR LINE. WHEN WE WERE ONLY A FEW FT FROM MAKING CONTACT, WE SHUT OFF THE GAS VALVES AND BRACED FOR CONTACT. THE SUSPENSION CABLES CONNECTING OUR BASKET TO THE BALLOON ENVELOPE TOUCHED THE PWR WIRES ABOUT 4 FT ABOVE OUR HEADS. THERE WAS A SINGLE SMALL FLASH AS ELECTRICITY ARCED FROM THE WIRES TO OUR SUSPENSION CABLES. THE BALLOON DSNDED A FEW MORE FT, OUR FORWARD MOTION ARRESTED BY THE WIRES, AND THEN WE ROSE UP AND OVER THE WIRES, AND LANDED INTACT JUST PAST THE TREES AND PWR LINE. THERE WERE NO INJURIES, AND ONLY MINOR DAMAGE TO THE BALLOON, CONSISTING OF A HALF-DOLLAR SIZE HOLE BURNED IN THE FABRIC OF OUR 'DIPPER' SKIRT AND SLIGHT DAMAGE TO 3 OF THE SUSPENSION CABLES -- JUST ENOUGH TO MAKE US REPLACE THEM. ELECTRICAL SVC TO THE HOME ON THE PROPERTY WAS INTERRUPTED FOR ABOUT 1 HR. I SPOKE TO THE LAND OWNERS AND FOUND THEM TO BE VERY UNDERSTANDING AND SYMPATHETIC TO OUR SIT. THEY DID NOT APPEAR TO BE UPSET ABOUT LOSING THEIR ELECTRICITY AT ALL. THE INCIDENT, AS I SEE IT, HAD SEVERAL COMPONENTS: 1) IT HAD BEEN SEVERAL MONTHS SINCE MY SON'S LAST TRAINING FLT, SO HE WAS NOT AS COMFORTABLE AT THE CTLS AS I JUDGED HIM TO BE. (HE HAD PERFORMED EVERY TASK PERFECTLY UP UNTIL THE LNDG APCH, AND SHOWED NO VISIBLE SIGNS OF NERVOUSNESS.) 2) I FAILED TO GIVE STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE LNDG APCH. I EXPECTED HIM TO KNOW WHAT TO DO, AND THOUGHT THAT AT THE WORST I MIGHT HAVE TO GIVE AN EXTRA PULL ON THE VENT MYSELF, IN LIGHT OF HIS PREVIOUS TENDENCY TO NOT VENT QUITE ENOUGH. 3) THE VARYING SPD OF THE SURFACE WINDS (WHICH WE HAD MEASURED BEFORE WE LAUNCHED TO BE BTWN 0-8 MPH), WHILE NOT BEING STRONG ENOUGH TO BE CONSIDERED UNSAFE, MADE IT DIFFICULT TO GAUGE THE NECESSARY RATE OF DSCNT FOR AN APCH TO THE FIELD. IF THE GUST HAD NOT DIED OUT LIKE IT DID, I FEEL CERTAIN THAT WE WOULD HAVE CLRED THE WIRES WITHOUT A PROB. 4) MY MOMENTARY LAPSE OF ATTN AS HE VENTED THE BALLOON COMBINED WITH HIS DETERMINATION TO NOT MISS ANOTHER LNDG ATTEMPT. HE OVER-VENTED PARTLY BECAUSE HE WAS EAGER TO PROVE THAT HE COULD PERFORM THIS TASK, BUT MOSTLY BECAUSE I FAILED TO GIVE HIM STEP-BY- STEP INSTRUCTIONS. BEFORE BEGINNING ANOTHER TRAINING FLT, I WILL DISCUSS THE MECHANICAL ASPECTS OF FLYING THE BALLOON IN MORE DETAIL, AND WILL INCLUDE SPECIFIC INSTRUCTIONS SUCH AS 'PULL THE VENT LINE DOWN ABOUT 2 FT AND HOLD IT FOR 2 SECONDS, THEN RELEASE' RATHER THAN SAYING SIMPLY 'VENT IT A LITTLE.' WHERE I PREVIOUSLY FELT THAT BECAUSE MY SON HAD FLOWN ON SO MANY OCCASIONS WITH MYSELF AND OTHER PLTS, SUCH INSTRUCTION MIGHT SEEM CONDESCENDING TO HIM, I NOW BELIEVE THAT SPECIFIC VERBAL INSTRUCTIONS ARE REALLY IMPORTANT TO CONNECT THE OBSERVED MOTIONS WITH THE THOUGHT PROCESSES.

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.