Factors Associated With Fatalities and Injuries From Hot-Air Balloon Crashes

Factors Associated With Fatalities and Injuries From Hot-Air Balloon Crashes

CONTEXT.— Despite the increased popularity of hot-air balloon flight, data on injuries and fatalities associated with hot-air balloon crashes are limited. OBJECTIVE.— To determine factors associated with injury and death in hot-air balloon crashes. DESIGN.— Retrospective review of data collected fro...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:JAMA : the journal of the American Medical Association Vol. 279; no. 13; pp. 1011 - 1014
Main Authors: Cowl, Clayton T, Jones, Michael P, Lynch, Charles F, Sprince, Nancy L, Zwerling, Craig, Fuortes, Lawrence J
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Chicago, IL American Medical Association 01-04-1998
Subjects:
Accident investigations
Accidents, Aviation - mortality
Accidents, Aviation - statistics & numerical data
Aircraft - statistics & numerical data
Balloons
Biological and medical sciences
Fatalities
Humans
Injuries
Logistic Models
Medical sciences
Recreation
Retrospective Studies
Risk Factors
Sport (general aspects)
Traumas. Diseases due to physical agents
United States - epidemiology
Wounds and Injuries - epidemiology
United States
Human
Sport
Correlation
Warm air
Mortality
Aeronautics
Risk factor
Balloon
Disaster
Trauma
Retrospective
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:CONTEXT.— Despite the increased popularity of hot-air balloon flight, data on injuries and fatalities associated with hot-air balloon crashes are limited. OBJECTIVE.— To determine factors associated with injury and death in hot-air balloon crashes. DESIGN.— Retrospective review of data collected from reports and investigations by the Civil Aeronautics Board and the National Transportation Safety Board. STUDY SUBJECTS.— Individuals involved in US hot-air balloon crashes from 1964 to 1995. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES.— Total number of crashes and factors associated with fatality or serious injury. RESULTS.— From 1964 to 1995, a total of 495 hot-air balloon crashes involving 1533 persons were reported and included 92 fatalities and 384 serious injuries. Pilot error or incapacitation was determined subjectively by crash investigators to contribute to 85.1% of the crashes. In univariate analysis, collision with the ground was the most significant predictor of a fatality or serious injury (P<.001), and power-line contact was the most significant predictor of fatality (P<.001). In multiple logistic regression, only the type of object struck by a balloon predicted a fatal crash or a fatality or serious injury. CONCLUSIONS.— Although a number of factors likely contribute to increased severity of hot-air balloon crashes, the object struck during a crash is most predictive of fatality or serious injury. Preventive efforts are needed to decrease future injuries.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-2
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-1
content type line 23
ObjectType-Article-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
ISSN:0098-7484
1538-3598
DOI:10.1001/jama.279.13.1011