| Crash location | 41.527778°N, 71.366667°W |
| Nearest city | Jamestown, RI
41.537602°N, 71.375887°W 0.8 miles away |
| Tail number | N2131Y |
|---|---|
| Accident date | 19 Jul 2008 |
| Aircraft type | Firefly 7-15 |
| Additional details: | None |
The pilot of the Firefly 7-15 balloon stated that he was departing Richmond Airport (08R), West Kingston, Rhode Island, for the athletic field at the University of Rhode Island, where a balloon festival was taking place. After departing 08R with two passengers on a commercial sightseeing flight, he followed the path of several other balloons towards the athletic field. The pilot descended towards his intended landing target, but did not descend quickly enough and drifted past it to the south. He looked for alternate landing sites, but was unable to find one that was suitable. After crossing half of Narragansett Bay, and while running low on fuel, the pilot attempted to land in a small field in Jamestown. As he was descending he noticed power lines off to one side of the landing site. In order to avoid them, he descended quickly and instructed the passengers to bend their knees for impact. The balloon landed hard while avoiding the power lines. The balloon incurred no damage and one of the passengers suffered a serious foot injury.
The pilot's excessive descent maneuver.