Lindstrand Balloons 77A accident near Louisville, Kentucky, September 24, 2005
On September 24, 2005 at about 1:05 pm local time, a Lindstrand Balloons 77A, registered N4024P, was involved in an accident near Louisville, Kentucky. It was an aerial observation flight under general aviation rules (Part 91). No one was hurt; 2 people were on board or involved. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
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The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The ground crewman's failure to release the basket of the balloon when it resumed flight during the landing phase. A factor in the accident was the wet grass at the landing site.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 4, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- September 24, 2005 · about 1:05 pm local time
- Place
- Louisville, Kentucky · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 2 people were on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Lindstrand Balloons 77A · all 77As on the register
- Registration
- N4024P · no longer on the register · serial 5044
- Damage
- Not recorded
- Flight
- Aerial observation flight · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The ground crewman grabbed onto the basket of the balloon upon landing. As she did so, her feet slipped from under her on the wet grass, and the balloon lifted into the air. When the basket of the balloon reached about 8 feet above the ground, the crewman lost her grip, fell to the ground, and was seriously injured. The crewman stated that she held onto the basket only because she had lost her footing.
The complete narrative as the NTSB published it. The NTSB's docket holds the report as a PDF and any photographs, statements and other documents from the investigation.
The factual record from the NTSB's investigation tables, in plain English
Pilot
- Certificate: commercial pilot
- Ratings: single-engine land; instrument: airplane; rotorcraft: balloon
- Flight time: 3,149 hours in all; 100 in this make and model; 48 in the last 90 days; 9 in the last 30 days
- Medical certificate: Class 2
- Injury: no injuries
The aircraft
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine:; 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: LOU Louisville KY
- Destination: LOU
- Flight plan: none
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Temperature: 0°F (-18°C), dew point 0°F (-18°C)
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 1 | |||
| Passengers | 1 |
Documents from the investigation the NTSB's docket: the evidence folder behind the report
The docket, the folder of records gathered during an investigation (maintenance records, photographs, witness statements, examinations), has not been read from the NTSB for this case yet; the list appears here once it has. Open the docket at the NTSB.
About this page
Everything above comes from the NTSB's public accident database: the narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words, and the coded tables behind its report (pilot, aircraft, flight, weather, injuries, sequence of events) are written out in plain English. Pilots' ages, home towns and medical details are left out on purpose. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, the folder of records gathered during the investigation, shown as the NTSB released them (the NTSB redacts some personal details first) and listed under the NTSB's own titles. This site's own text never names pilots, passengers or anyone else involved. A preliminary report describes what is known soon after the event and can change; the final report, with the probable cause, usually follows one to two years later and this page is refreshed when it does. Case number IAD05CA141.