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The pilot of a hot air balloon which saw a tear reopen in flight was likely influenced to take off despite inadequate repairs due to “perceived expectations” of passengers, the ATSB has said.
VH-RRP, a Kubíček BB142P hot air balloon, sustained the 45cm tear while being cold-inflated prior to an early-morning flight near Beaudesert in Queensland on 18 October last year, and was patched up in the field with “specialised adhesive tape”, according to investigators.
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The partially-inflated envelope had been pushed into nearby light posts by a sudden change in wind direction, and while the pilot noticed the repair degrading in flight, they did not judge it necessary to land ahead of schedule.
“The initial damage occurred after an inflation and launch position was selected which did not provide sufficient clearance from nearby obstacles,” said ATSB director of transport safety Dr Stuart Godley.
“The resulting tear, which the pilot estimated as 45cm, was far in exceedance of the 2.5cm limit without overstitching defined by the manufacturer for this type of field repair. However, the pilot did not fully understand the manufacturer’s guidance.
“After hot inflating the balloon and observing no immediate degradation of the repair, the pilot likely perceived the expectations of the 24 passengers, who had already arrived for the flight, as a strong motivator to continue.
“The weight of the perceived passenger expectation would likely have the pilot searching for solutions to allow the flight to proceed, rather than cancelling and rescheduling the flight to conduct required repairs.”
During the subsequent flight with the pilot and 24 passengers on board, the repair degraded and a hole opened in the envelope, allowing air to escape from the balloon. The pilot was able to continue the flight and land at the planned destination without further incident.
“When the repair degraded in flight, the pilot continued for the remaining 5-10 minutes of the planned flight, rather than landing immediately, despite the manufacturer’s flight manual instructions to land as soon as possible following in-flight envelope damage,” said Godley.
“This incident demonstrates how pilots and maintainers should be aware of external and internal commercial pressures to continue a flight without fully researching and conducting an appropriate repair, in the event of a damaged envelope.
“These repairs must be conducted in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions, as non-approved repairs can normalise unsafe practices over time, and represent a significant risk to those on board.”
The ATSB in November released a safety study finding hot-air balloons were at far higher risk of incidents than light planes or helicopters.
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