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Registered aircraft · FAA record as of October 26, 2026Head Balloons Inc AX9-118
N40104 is a Head Balloons Inc AX9-118, a balloon with no engine. It has 1 seat. It is registered to an individual in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania. The registration is valid: it was issued on July 13, 2023 and expires on July 31, 2030. It holds a standard airworthiness certificate for balloon, dated June 4, 2014.
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Flight history: where it flew in the last seven days · follow it on the live map
Aircraft
- Maker
- Head Balloons Inc
- Model
- AX9-118 · all AX9-118s and related versions
- Built of
- fabric and wickerA hot-air balloon: a coated nylon envelope, stainless-steel cables, and a wicker or aluminium basket under a propane burner. This is how the Head Balloons Inc AX9 family is built; the FAA does not record construction for each aircraft, and the type certificate data sheet is the authority for this one.
- Serial number
- 439
- Type
- BalloonFAA type of aircraft code 2 (the FAA's broad category for the airframe). Every aircraft with this code · All codes
- Power
- NoneFAA type of engine code 0 (what powers it, as the FAA classes engines). Every aircraft with this code · All codes · None NONE
- Seats
- 1
- Year built
- Not given
- Transponder code
- A4B2CD (octal 51131315)
Registration
- Status
- Valid registrationFAA registration status code V (whether the registration certificate is in force). Every aircraft with this code · All codes
- Certificate issued
- July 13, 2023
- Expires
- July 31, 2030
- Last FAA action
- July 13, 2023
- Airworthiness
- StandardFAA airworthiness class code 1 (the kind of airworthiness certificate it flies under and what it is approved for). Every aircraft with this code · All codes · BalloonFAA certificate purpose code B (the kind of airworthiness certificate it flies under and what it is approved for). All codes · June 4, 2014
- FAA region
- EasternFAA region code 1 (the FAA regional office that handles the record). All codes
- FAA record id
- 01153468
Owner as the FAA publishes it
- Name
- Plank Todd N
- Type
- IndividualFAA type of owner code 1 (who holds the registration: a person, a company, a trust or a government body). Every aircraft with this code · All codes
- Address
- 217 Bullrush Ldg
Elizabethtown, PA 17022-9350
Owners can ask the FAA to withhold their name and address from public files. When they do, those fields are blank here as well. How that works.
Documents on file 0
No bills of sale, loans or other documents are indexed against this tail number.
Earlier use of this number 2
Connections how N40104 links to the rest of the register
- Head Balloons Inc AX9 25 registered
- Head Balloons Inc 197 aircraft on the register
- Built of fabric and wicker · as the model family is built; the register does not record it per aircraft
- Type certificate A29SO · held by Head Balloons INC
- Elizabethtown, PA 16 aircraft registered in this town
- Pennsylvania 6,183 aircraft registered
- FAA orders naming the Head Balloons Inc AX9 1 airworthiness directives
- Approved modifications for the Head Balloons Inc AX9 11 supplemental type certificates
The whole map of how records connect · these connections as data: /graph/aircraft/N40104.json.
Records check free · 2 to understand · 2 clear
The public federal record on N40104, read the way a buyer, lender or insurer reads it: FAA registration, prior tail numbers keyed on the serial number, reuse of the tail number, recent registry filings, and the NTSB accident record under this and every earlier registration.
Valid registration to Plank Todd N, an individual, certificate issued July 13, 2023, expires July 31, 2030. No fractional interest recorded. [1]
Standard certificate for balloon; the FAA file gives no certificate date and no manufacture year. [1]
No earlier tail number is recorded against serial 439 for this model in the deregistered file. [2]
N40104 was previously assigned to 2 other aircraft: Boeing 727-2M1 (serial 21091, cancelled July 12, 2006); Stinson 108 (serial 10834, cancelled May 20, 1965). Histories keyed to the tail number alone can mix aircraft up; this check keys on the serial number. [2]
No bills of sale, loans or releases have reached the registry in recent weeks. The index covers only recent filings; older liens are in the records file. [3]
1 NTSB record under N40104: Accident on August 16, 2015 at New Holland, PA: serious injuries, minor damage. Details below. [4]
These live in the FAA aircraft records file (every document ever filed against the aircraft) and, for larger aircraft, the International Registry. Part of the full report.
AD compliance against the logbooks and flight-activity reconciliation are researched layers of the full report.
NTSB records 1
Aircraft on the NTSB record: Head AX9 118 · operated under 091
The pilot's failure to adequately secure the vent line, which resulted in the premature deflation of the balloon’s envelope and its subsequent contact with power lines. Contributing to the accident were the pilot's choice of an unsuitable landing area, which had power lines opposite the approach end, and his subsequent failure to maintain adequate clearance from the lines during the landing.
Full record in plain English · Docket and reports at the NTSB
- FAA Releasable Aircraft Database, master file, file of October 26, 2026. registry.faa.gov/
- FAA deregistered aircraft file (part of the same download), file of October 26, 2026. registry.faa.gov/
- FAA document index: registry documents received in recent weeks, file of October 26, 2026. registry.faa.gov/
- NTSB aviation accident database (CAROL), records through September 30, 2026. data.ntsb.gov/carol-main-public/basic-search
This automated check reads the public federal record. Nothing here is a legal opinion, an appraisal or a statement about the aircraft's condition; a CLEAR line is a statement about the searched record, not the aircraft.
Source: FAA Civil Aviation Registry, Releasable Aircraft Database, October 26, 2026. See this record on the FAA site · This record as data