Fire Thought To Be Caused By Raw Propane Leak
A
balloon pilot competing in an evening flight of the Battle Creek
Field of Flight Air Show and Balloon Festival in Battle Creek, MI,
sustained burns to both arms Monday when a hot air balloon caught
fire after landing.
Gary Moore, 51, of Lake Havasu City, AZ was treated at Battle
Creek Health System and was released Tuesday, according to a
spokesman.
Todd Leatherman, a passenger in the balloon, was not injured.
Pilots launched from south of W.K. Kellogg Airport and were
attempting to fly to the south side of the airport, according to
the Battle Creek Enquirer. A wind change forced the pilots to
locate alternative landing sites and Moore chose a side yard to a
residence and landed without incident.
The fire reportedly began after Moore landed his balloon and he
and Leatherman had already exited the basket.
The safety officer of the balloon event, Allen Yost, said a
series of photographs taken by witnesses were being studied.
"It shows him (Moore) in the air and the balloon is full of
air," Yost said. "One of the next pictures is the balloon on the
ground and everything is standing up. And in the next picture he is
outside, nobody is in the basket. He is already on the ground and
there is no fire."
Yost said the photographs suggesting a routine landing as the
basket is in an upright position and the burners were off.
The pictures then show Moore bent over a child's beach ball,
presumably to move it out of the way.
"While he is bent over there is a huge ball of flame and you can
see it through the foot hole of the basket, about 6 or 8 inches
from the bottom," Yost said.
Hs said this is suggestive of raw propane leaking and
accumulating in the basket then somehow igniting.
"In the next pictures the fabric (of the envelope) is on fire
and the burners are fully on," Yost said.
Moore sustained his burns when he reached back in to turn off
the propane tanks as the burning envelope begins to fall next to
the basket.
Moore has been a commercial pilot for about 15 years and flew
the Gr-r-reat Tony Balloon for the Kellogg Company from 1997 to
2002. He owns and operates Wanderlust Balloons in Arizona.
IDENTIFICATION
Regis#: 4021M
Make/Model: R-77 Description:
EXP-CAMEROON BALLOON
Date: 07/03/2007 Time: 0045
Event Type: Incident Highest Injury:
Minor Mid Air: N Missing:
N
Damage: Unknown
LOCATION
City: BATTLE CREEK State: MI
Country: US
DESCRIPTION
DURING LANDING BALLOON CAUGHT FIRE, BATTLE CREEK, MI.
INJURY DATA Total
Fatal: 0
# Crew: 1 Fat:
0 Ser:
0 Min:
1 Unk:
# Pass: 1 Fat:
0 Ser:
0 Min:
0 Unk:
# Grnd:
Fat: 0 Ser:
0 Min:
0 Unk:
WEATHER: VFR
OTHER DATA
Activity: Pleasure Phase:
Landing Operation: OTHER
FAA FSDO: GRAND RAPIDS, MI
(GL09)
Entry date: 07/03/2007
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