 |
37000 Feet | Browse and search NASA's Aviation Safety Reporting System |
|
A B757 first officer reported sighting a weather balloon at 7;500 ft; requiring evasive action by the captain to avoid it.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 968197 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201109 |
| Local Time Of Day | 1201-1800 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | MIA.Airport |
| State Reference | FL |
| Environment | |
| Light | Daylight |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | B757-200 |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 121 |
| Flight Phase | Climb |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Pilot Not Flying First Officer |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Conflict Airborne Conflict Inflight Event / Encounter Object |
Narrative:
Climbing through 7;500 ft; cleared to 16;000 ft and direct to mnate; we spotted what appeared to be a balloon that we were on a collision course with. The captain; [as] pilot flying; disconnected the autopilot and stopped the climb; narrowly avoiding the balloon. As it went by my window; I noticed that it was a weather balloon with a telemetry package deployed underneath. We immediately advised ATC and received clearance to continue climb and route to mnate. Center was unaware there was balloon activity in the area and then advised the aircraft following our routing. The balloon was coming basically from approximately 190/200 degrees and tracking north/northeast. Center could not have known of the threat and the captain did an excellent job of avoiding the craft. He proceeded to call the flight attendants and explained the situation that just happened and asked if anyone was injured as we had allowed the flight attendants up as we approached vkz. There were thunder cells in the area; but the area we were flying in was clear enough that we saw the balloon.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: A B757 First Officer reported sighting a weather balloon at 7;500 FT; requiring evasive action by the Captain to avoid it.
Narrative: Climbing through 7;500 FT; cleared to 16;000 FT and direct to MNATE; we spotted what appeared to be a balloon that we were on a collision course with. The Captain; [as] pilot flying; disconnected the autopilot and stopped the climb; narrowly avoiding the balloon. As it went by my window; I noticed that it was a weather balloon with a telemetry package deployed underneath. We immediately advised ATC and received clearance to continue climb and route to MNATE. Center was unaware there was balloon activity in the area and then advised the aircraft following our routing. The balloon was coming basically from approximately 190/200 degrees and tracking north/northeast. Center could not have known of the threat and the Captain did an excellent job of avoiding the craft. He proceeded to call the flight attendants and explained the situation that just happened and asked if anyone was injured as we had allowed the flight attendants up as we approached VKZ. There were thunder cells in the area; but the area we were flying in was clear enough that we saw the balloon.
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.