Narrative:

On dec/xa/98 at approximately XA30 I called FSS for an outlook for my planned balloon flight from the chatfield state lake park balloon port. WX conditions forecast were within limits for a safe, successful flight, and I told the briefer that I'd check again in the morning. At approximately XA15 on dec/xb/98 I called the FSS office and accessed the hot air balloon tape WX recording, and logged the WX in my usual manner on a form. Again, all seemed fine for the day's flight. Upon arriving at chatfield, there were 3 other pilots present and preparing to fly also. One of the pilots expressed some concern over high altitude clouds which were considerably to the west of our location. To reassure myself, I called FSS from the launch field at approximately XB40, and requested information regarding winds aloft, and at other local reporting stations to see if anything significant had changed since my listening to the recording at XA15. They said that they had a report of winds at 8000 ft of 8 KTS, and another of 50 KTS at 8000 ft, but weren't sure of the accuracy of that report since they had no others to collaborate it. Their view of local conditions were little changed from the recording, so I continued doing preflight and inflation. In preparation for flight, I released a piball balloon to check local wind conditions. The balloon drifted to the south until it reached about 150-200 ft, and then did a 180 degree turn and went to the northeast. This was a common pattern at chatfield, in my experience. The balloon continued to ascend to the northwest until it reached about 500 ft. There it made a slow turn to the east, and a little south, back toward the balloon area. 2 other balloons preceded me into the air, both having normal takeoffs. We took off slowly, and at about 25 ft altitude, drifted southeast toward the lake. We descended to an intermediate landing, took off again and flew slightly northeast. Noting the general change in the winds, and observing another balloon at higher altitude going to the northwest, I elected to climb to his altitude and do the same. We climbed to approximately 1000 ft AGL, and continued to the northwest. I observed the other balloon, still higher, but now moving slightly southeast. I climbed to the same altitude, to be able to return to the park area. We crossed over chatfield lake at approximately 2200 ft AGL, and I descended to pick up a westerly flow back across the lake, and toward the balloon port on the west side of the lake. As we descended, there were 1 or 2 mild shears, causing the balloon to rotate, but not severe enough to cause distortion. Upon reaching about 100 ft above the lake's surface, the winds shifted again to the north and I elected to abort attempting to cross the lake because I didn't want to be near the dam at low altitude. I did cross the dam at about 100 ft above it, and continued to the north, climbing to attempt to find a westerly flow again. I observed both other balloons at lower altitudes going at a fairly fast rate to the north. As I climbed through approximately 1500 ft AGL, I again experienced some shear activity, and descended to avoid them further. We continued to the northeast and I started planning a final landing. I selected a park just to the north across a reservoir. I briefed my passenger that we were going to land hard, and drag and probably tip over due to the surface winds which I estimate were over 10 mph at that time. I entered a steep descent, pulled the vent line at about 15 degrees off the ground, and as we descended, surface winds accelerated. We landed in the park area, tipped over and started to drag. While dragging, I observed that we would not stop before reaching the end of the park and encountering a wood fence, so I released the vent line allowing the balloon to stand up, and leave the ground, aborting the landing. We were traveling quite fast (15 mph), and I began burning steadily to gain altitude as we were approaching a house as we ascended. We struck the second story of the house, rebounded, ascended and struck an upper level roof׫Añ2ß[over. I maintained the climb, and established full control of the balloon, and notified my crew that we had struck the house, and that everyone in the balloon was safe and uninjured. Wecontinued on at a moderate altitude, and went north. I advised my crew that I would determine an alternate landing site, and advise them. I climbed once again to attempt gaining a different direction, and reached an altitude of virtually no winds. Climbing slightly higher to approximately 1000 ft, we entered a flow to the east, and I sighted a large, open area to the east and slightly north of my position. I advised the crew of my intentions, and remained in the easterly flow to get slightly south of the open area where I then intended to descend into the north flowing surface winds, and land in that area. Upon reaching my predetermined position south of the open area, I rebriefed my passenger to prepare for a high wind landing, descended to about 100 ft above the houses to clear power lines, crossed the housing area, executed a final approach and landing, pulling the vent line at approximately 15 ft to reduce lift after touching down. We tipped over and dragged approximately 50 ft before stopping. The surface winds at that location were much slower than further west. I continued to vent the balloon until it was fully deflated, then instructed my passenger to exit the basket. By that time the chase crew and cherry hills police had arrived, and I began briefing the police, executed a normal pack-up and departed the area. Further discussion of the injury to both passenger was engaged in, and it was determined by me and the 11 yr old's parents that she was not injured, and had just bruised her hip. The same is true for the lady passenger. No emergency equipment was dispatched. Police remained until we packed up and were ready for departure. The other 2 balloons experienced similar wind speeds, and both executed high wind lndgs in an area directly north of chatfield lake state park. Another balloon was observed that had taken off from the evergreen area, flown over the foothills into the vicinity of chatfield state park, and returned to the west. His landing was not seen.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: BALLOON WITH PLT AND 3 PAX IMPACTS HOUSE AT LITTLETON, CO.

Narrative: ON DEC/XA/98 AT APPROX XA30 I CALLED FSS FOR AN OUTLOOK FOR MY PLANNED BALLOON FLT FROM THE CHATFIELD STATE LAKE PARK BALLOON PORT. WX CONDITIONS FORECAST WERE WITHIN LIMITS FOR A SAFE, SUCCESSFUL FLT, AND I TOLD THE BRIEFER THAT I'D CHK AGAIN IN THE MORNING. AT APPROX XA15 ON DEC/XB/98 I CALLED THE FSS OFFICE AND ACCESSED THE HOT AIR BALLOON TAPE WX RECORDING, AND LOGGED THE WX IN MY USUAL MANNER ON A FORM. AGAIN, ALL SEEMED FINE FOR THE DAY'S FLT. UPON ARRIVING AT CHATFIELD, THERE WERE 3 OTHER PLTS PRESENT AND PREPARING TO FLY ALSO. ONE OF THE PLTS EXPRESSED SOME CONCERN OVER HIGH ALT CLOUDS WHICH WERE CONSIDERABLY TO THE W OF OUR LOCATION. TO REASSURE MYSELF, I CALLED FSS FROM THE LAUNCH FIELD AT APPROX XB40, AND REQUESTED INFO REGARDING WINDS ALOFT, AND AT OTHER LCL RPTING STATIONS TO SEE IF ANYTHING SIGNIFICANT HAD CHANGED SINCE MY LISTENING TO THE RECORDING AT XA15. THEY SAID THAT THEY HAD A RPT OF WINDS AT 8000 FT OF 8 KTS, AND ANOTHER OF 50 KTS AT 8000 FT, BUT WEREN'T SURE OF THE ACCURACY OF THAT RPT SINCE THEY HAD NO OTHERS TO COLLABORATE IT. THEIR VIEW OF LCL CONDITIONS WERE LITTLE CHANGED FROM THE RECORDING, SO I CONTINUED DOING PREFLT AND INFLATION. IN PREPARATION FOR FLT, I RELEASED A PIBALL BALLOON TO CHK LCL WIND CONDITIONS. THE BALLOON DRIFTED TO THE S UNTIL IT REACHED ABOUT 150-200 FT, AND THEN DID A 180 DEG TURN AND WENT TO THE NE. THIS WAS A COMMON PATTERN AT CHATFIELD, IN MY EXPERIENCE. THE BALLOON CONTINUED TO ASCEND TO THE NW UNTIL IT REACHED ABOUT 500 FT. THERE IT MADE A SLOW TURN TO THE E, AND A LITTLE S, BACK TOWARD THE BALLOON AREA. 2 OTHER BALLOONS PRECEDED ME INTO THE AIR, BOTH HAVING NORMAL TKOFS. WE TOOK OFF SLOWLY, AND AT ABOUT 25 FT ALT, DRIFTED SE TOWARD THE LAKE. WE DSNDED TO AN INTERMEDIATE LNDG, TOOK OFF AGAIN AND FLEW SLIGHTLY NE. NOTING THE GENERAL CHANGE IN THE WINDS, AND OBSERVING ANOTHER BALLOON AT HIGHER ALT GOING TO THE NW, I ELECTED TO CLB TO HIS ALT AND DO THE SAME. WE CLBED TO APPROX 1000 FT AGL, AND CONTINUED TO THE NW. I OBSERVED THE OTHER BALLOON, STILL HIGHER, BUT NOW MOVING SLIGHTLY SE. I CLBED TO THE SAME ALT, TO BE ABLE TO RETURN TO THE PARK AREA. WE CROSSED OVER CHATFIELD LAKE AT APPROX 2200 FT AGL, AND I DSNDED TO PICK UP A WESTERLY FLOW BACK ACROSS THE LAKE, AND TOWARD THE BALLOON PORT ON THE W SIDE OF THE LAKE. AS WE DSNDED, THERE WERE 1 OR 2 MILD SHEARS, CAUSING THE BALLOON TO ROTATE, BUT NOT SEVERE ENOUGH TO CAUSE DISTORTION. UPON REACHING ABOUT 100 FT ABOVE THE LAKE'S SURFACE, THE WINDS SHIFTED AGAIN TO THE N AND I ELECTED TO ABORT ATTEMPTING TO CROSS THE LAKE BECAUSE I DIDN'T WANT TO BE NEAR THE DAM AT LOW ALT. I DID CROSS THE DAM AT ABOUT 100 FT ABOVE IT, AND CONTINUED TO THE N, CLBING TO ATTEMPT TO FIND A WESTERLY FLOW AGAIN. I OBSERVED BOTH OTHER BALLOONS AT LOWER ALTS GOING AT A FAIRLY FAST RATE TO THE N. AS I CLBED THROUGH APPROX 1500 FT AGL, I AGAIN EXPERIENCED SOME SHEAR ACTIVITY, AND DSNDED TO AVOID THEM FURTHER. WE CONTINUED TO THE NE AND I STARTED PLANNING A FINAL LNDG. I SELECTED A PARK JUST TO THE N ACROSS A RESERVOIR. I BRIEFED MY PAX THAT WE WERE GOING TO LAND HARD, AND DRAG AND PROBABLY TIP OVER DUE TO THE SURFACE WINDS WHICH I ESTIMATE WERE OVER 10 MPH AT THAT TIME. I ENTERED A STEEP DSCNT, PULLED THE VENT LINE AT ABOUT 15 DEGS OFF THE GND, AND AS WE DSNDED, SURFACE WINDS ACCELERATED. WE LANDED IN THE PARK AREA, TIPPED OVER AND STARTED TO DRAG. WHILE DRAGGING, I OBSERVED THAT WE WOULD NOT STOP BEFORE REACHING THE END OF THE PARK AND ENCOUNTERING A WOOD FENCE, SO I RELEASED THE VENT LINE ALLOWING THE BALLOON TO STAND UP, AND LEAVE THE GND, ABORTING THE LNDG. WE WERE TRAVELING QUITE FAST (15 MPH), AND I BEGAN BURNING STEADILY TO GAIN ALT AS WE WERE APCHING A HOUSE AS WE ASCENDED. WE STRUCK THE SECOND STORY OF THE HOUSE, REBOUNDED, ASCENDED AND STRUCK AN UPPER LEVEL ROOF׫Añ2ß[OVER. I MAINTAINED THE CLB, AND ESTABLISHED FULL CTL OF THE BALLOON, AND NOTIFIED MY CREW THAT WE HAD STRUCK THE HOUSE, AND THAT EVERYONE IN THE BALLOON WAS SAFE AND UNINJURED. WECONTINUED ON AT A MODERATE ALT, AND WENT N. I ADVISED MY CREW THAT I WOULD DETERMINE AN ALTERNATE LNDG SITE, AND ADVISE THEM. I CLBED ONCE AGAIN TO ATTEMPT GAINING A DIFFERENT DIRECTION, AND REACHED AN ALT OF VIRTUALLY NO WINDS. CLBING SLIGHTLY HIGHER TO APPROX 1000 FT, WE ENTERED A FLOW TO THE E, AND I SIGHTED A LARGE, OPEN AREA TO THE E AND SLIGHTLY N OF MY POS. I ADVISED THE CREW OF MY INTENTIONS, AND REMAINED IN THE EASTERLY FLOW TO GET SLIGHTLY S OF THE OPEN AREA WHERE I THEN INTENDED TO DSND INTO THE N FLOWING SURFACE WINDS, AND LAND IN THAT AREA. UPON REACHING MY PREDETERMINED POS S OF THE OPEN AREA, I REBRIEFED MY PAX TO PREPARE FOR A HIGH WIND LNDG, DSNDED TO ABOUT 100 FT ABOVE THE HOUSES TO CLR PWR LINES, CROSSED THE HOUSING AREA, EXECUTED A FINAL APCH AND LNDG, PULLING THE VENT LINE AT APPROX 15 FT TO REDUCE LIFT AFTER TOUCHING DOWN. WE TIPPED OVER AND DRAGGED APPROX 50 FT BEFORE STOPPING. THE SURFACE WINDS AT THAT LOCATION WERE MUCH SLOWER THAN FURTHER W. I CONTINUED TO VENT THE BALLOON UNTIL IT WAS FULLY DEFLATED, THEN INSTRUCTED MY PAX TO EXIT THE BASKET. BY THAT TIME THE CHASE CREW AND CHERRY HILLS POLICE HAD ARRIVED, AND I BEGAN BRIEFING THE POLICE, EXECUTED A NORMAL PACK-UP AND DEPARTED THE AREA. FURTHER DISCUSSION OF THE INJURY TO BOTH PAX WAS ENGAGED IN, AND IT WAS DETERMINED BY ME AND THE 11 YR OLD'S PARENTS THAT SHE WAS NOT INJURED, AND HAD JUST BRUISED HER HIP. THE SAME IS TRUE FOR THE LADY PAX. NO EMER EQUIP WAS DISPATCHED. POLICE REMAINED UNTIL WE PACKED UP AND WERE READY FOR DEP. THE OTHER 2 BALLOONS EXPERIENCED SIMILAR WIND SPDS, AND BOTH EXECUTED HIGH WIND LNDGS IN AN AREA DIRECTLY N OF CHATFIELD LAKE STATE PARK. ANOTHER BALLOON WAS OBSERVED THAT HAD TAKEN OFF FROM THE EVERGREEN AREA, FLOWN OVER THE FOOTHILLS INTO THE VICINITY OF CHATFIELD STATE PARK, AND RETURNED TO THE W. HIS LNDG WAS NOT SEEN.

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.