Narrative:

The flight in question was a hot air balloon; commercial sightseeing flight. After a routine one hour sight seeing flight several low approaches to land were made only to discover standing water in fields that had problematic accessibility to ground crew due to mud; and mucky soil conditions. This extended the flight longer than expected or intended. As the flight wore on winds calmed; reducing the landing site selections by the amount of ground covered. Approaching and within a small rural hamlet; multiple low level approaches were made; but aborted due to the proximity of livestock or power lines or other unacceptable obstacles. These landings were aborted due to variable low level wind conditions that resulted in unpredictable direction changes on short final. In ballooning; approach directions are sometimes somewhat of an unknown; until on short final. Particularly on evenings of light winds; in an area of rolling hills; in the evening as nocturnal drainage winds begin to set up. Finally on the outskirts of the village a landing was made in a small backyard. The flight and landing were uneventful; except for the short field landing where the fabric envelope came in contact with trees at the end of the yard. The landing yard was nearly the last landing area before an extended forested area. The last field was a planted field; and the pilot chose to make a short field landing in a backyard; before the farm field. Final landing was accomplished without incident but without adequate fuel reserves. Due to calmer winds; low fuel; and limited daylight; the forest could not have been over-flown. The local volunteer fire department was on their way back to the hall; from another unrelated call; and was witnessing the landing. A call was made by one of them (someone other than the chief) to county dispatch of 'a balloon in distress;' who in turn purportedly notified the FAA. The call to dispatch was made by a person unfamiliar with ballooning and the fact that we don't routinely take off or land at recognized airports. The firemen stayed at the scene to verify we were all right which did not take long; but three vehicles with flashing lights and a radio report of a 'balloon in distress' were a magnet to gawkers and onlookers. It was explained that in the county everyone has a scanner. Luckily; the fire crew stayed on to manage the traffic snarl they helped create. Localized heavy rain patterns; in the landing area; unexpectedly limited landing field selection. A prior more thorough understanding of landing field conditions would have lead to a canceled flight. The pilot thought; because the launch field had dried out reasonably well; that other areas in the landing area would similarly be dry enough to land in. Localized rain patterns and varying drainage contributed to a bad decision to fly. A wet landing with acceptable fuel reserves may alternatively have been advisable. In the future a more conservative risk assessment ladder will be used when wet ground conditions exist. Also an understanding with the county dispatch; to call the pilot; in case of a balloon in distress; before alerting authorities is in order. I have that understanding in my home county. In so much as I know the other pilots in the area and would have visibility of; and contact info for; other pilots that might be flying on a given evening. The spirit if not the letter of far's governing preflight planning; low level flying; and maintaining adequate fuel reserves may have inadvertently been violated during the course of this flight; due to the extended duration of this flight; brought on by wet ground conditions an ill advised decision to fly.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Following multiple go arounds over muddy fields which would not support the balloon's recovery; and inadequate fuel reserves;a balloon pilot landed in a backyard as the last landing opportunity before flight over a forest .

Narrative: The flight in question was a hot air balloon; commercial sightseeing flight. After a routine one hour sight seeing flight several low approaches to land were made only to discover standing water in fields that had problematic accessibility to ground crew due to mud; and mucky soil conditions. This extended the flight longer than expected or intended. As the flight wore on winds calmed; reducing the landing site selections by the amount of ground covered. Approaching and within a small rural hamlet; multiple low level approaches were made; but aborted due to the proximity of livestock or power lines or other unacceptable obstacles. These landings were aborted due to variable low level wind conditions that resulted in unpredictable direction changes on short final. In ballooning; approach directions are sometimes somewhat of an unknown; until on short final. Particularly on evenings of light winds; in an area of rolling hills; in the evening as nocturnal drainage winds begin to set up. Finally on the outskirts of the village a landing was made in a small backyard. The flight and landing were uneventful; except for the short field landing where the fabric envelope came in contact with trees at the end of the yard. The landing yard was nearly the last landing area before an extended forested area. The last field was a planted field; and the pilot chose to make a short field landing in a backyard; before the farm field. Final landing was accomplished without incident but without adequate fuel reserves. Due to calmer winds; low fuel; and limited daylight; the forest could not have been over-flown. The local volunteer fire department was on their way back to the hall; from another unrelated call; and was witnessing the landing. A call was made by one of them (someone other than the chief) to county dispatch of 'a balloon in distress;' who in turn purportedly notified the FAA. The call to dispatch was made by a person unfamiliar with ballooning and the fact that we don't routinely take off or land at recognized airports. The firemen stayed at the scene to verify we were all right which did not take long; but three vehicles with flashing lights and a radio report of a 'balloon in distress' were a magnet to gawkers and onlookers. It was explained that in the county everyone has a scanner. Luckily; the fire crew stayed on to manage the traffic snarl they helped create. Localized heavy rain patterns; in the landing area; unexpectedly limited landing field selection. A prior more thorough understanding of landing field conditions would have lead to a canceled flight. The pilot thought; because the launch field had dried out reasonably well; that other areas in the landing area would similarly be dry enough to land in. Localized rain patterns and varying drainage contributed to a bad decision to fly. A wet landing with acceptable fuel reserves may alternatively have been advisable. In the future a more conservative risk assessment ladder will be used when wet ground conditions exist. Also an understanding with the county dispatch; to call the pilot; in case of a balloon in distress; before alerting authorities is in order. I have that understanding in my home county. In so much as I know the other pilots in the area and would have visibility of; and contact info for; other pilots that might be flying on a given evening. The spirit if not the letter of FAR's governing preflight planning; low level flying; and maintaining adequate fuel reserves may have inadvertently been violated during the course of this flight; due to the extended duration of this flight; brought on by wet ground conditions an ill advised decision to fly.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.