Balloon Life,November 1999

10

The Flight Standards Service of the Fed-
eralAviationAdministra-tionpublishes
Plane Sense toacquainttheowneror
prospective owner with some fundamen-
talinformationontherequirementsof
owning,operating,andmaintaininga
private aircraft.The article isthe firstin
anoccasion alseriesforballoonowners
based on this publication.Below aresome
of the balloon owner’sresponsibilities.
As the registered owner of a balloon,
you are responsible for:
1.HavingacurrentAirworthiness
CertificateandCertificateofAircraft
Registrationinyouballoon.
2.Maintainingyouraircraftinan
airwo rthyconditionincludingcomp li-
ancewithallapplicableAirworthiness
Directives(ADs).
3.Assuring that maintenance is prop-
erlyrecorded.
4. Keeping abreast of current regula-
tions con cerning the operation and main-
tenance of your balloon.
5. Notifying the Civil Aviation Reg-
istry ,AFS-750 ,immediatelyo fany
change of permanent mailing address, or
thesale orexport ofyour balloon,or of
thelossofyoureligibilitytoregistera
balloon. [14 CFR part 47, section 47 .41]
6.Iftheaircraftisequippedwith
radios and you plan to fly outside of U.S.
boundaries, a current Federal Communi-
cationsCommissionRadioStationLi-
cen se is required. An FAA Radio Statio n
Licen se isnot required for aircraft oper-
ating domestically.
7. Your balloon shall be inspected in
accordance withanannual inspection or
withone of the inspection prog rams out-
lined in 14CFRsection 9 1.409to main-
tain a currentAirworthinessCertificate.

Howtoreportanaccident
Accidentsinvolvingyou rballoon
mustberepo rtedtothe NationalTrans-
portationSafetyBoardasrequiredby

Title 4 9 ofthe Code of Fed eralRegula-
tionspart 830.
Thereg ulationsrequirethatbythe
most expeditiou s means available, notify
thenearestNTSBfieldoffice.NTSB
fieldofficesarelistedinthetelephone
directoriesofmajorcitiesunderU.S.
Government.
Withintendaysafteranaccident,
you should filea report with the NTSB on
NTSBForm6 120.1/2.Pilot/Operator
Aircraft Accident Report.
Flight Service Stations arealso avail-
abletotakeaccidentinformationan d
forwardit tothe NTSB.

How to report a stolen balloon or
equipment
Immediately notify the law enforce-
mentagencyhavingjurisdictionatthe
site of the theft, g iving all availableinfor-
matio n. Request that such information be
enteredintothe computer systemof the
NationalCrimeInformationCenterof
theFBI,andhave the law officer taking
therep ortnotifythenearest FAA Auto-
matedFlight Service Station. The AFSS
thenissuesanationwidestolenaircraft
alert.
Note:TheAFSS’sareproh ibited
fromissuingstolenaircraftalertsbased
solelyonnotificationo ftheftbythe
owner—the reportmust bemade bythe
lawenforcement officerhandling thecase.
NotifytheAviationCrimePreven-
tionInstitu te,POBox30,Hagerstown,
MD 21740, telephone 800-969-5473, In-
ternet http://www.acpi.org/index.html.
GiveACPIallavailableinforma-
tion. ACPI will send notices of the theft to
appro priateindustrycontacts,andem-
bassies, if applicable.
Notifyyourinsurancecompanyor
agent,asappropriate.Inaddition,own-
ers/operators are encouraged to keep sepa-
rate records of serial numbers for compo-
nentparts,avionics,andother installed
items. Report these serial numbers at the
same time the aircraftisreportedstolen.

Balloon Sense

Balloon
Owner
Responsi-
bilities

Partof a series to
acquaintthe owner or
prospective balloon
owner withsome
fundamental
information.