FAA Orders Mandatory Balloon Checks

Editorial Staff

Tuesday, August 23, 2016 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

The FAA issued an emergency airworthiness directive requiring all 6,400 hot-air balloons in the U.S. to be inspected for potentially leaky "egeflex" fuel hoses.
These hoses, often associated with Balony Kubček propane burners, pose a fire risk and have been linked to reported propane leaks, though the FAA denies a known correlation to a recent fatal Texas accident for this specific AD.
Balloonists have 14 days from August 29 (the AD's effective date) to complete the inspection; any balloon found with egeflex hoses must be grounded until they are replaced.

See a mistake? Contact us.

All 6,400 hot-air balloons in the U.S. must be inspected to ensure they are not equipped with potentially leaky fuel hoses made of “egeflex” material, the FAA said in an emergency airworthiness directive issued today. The AD is effective Aug. 29, and balloonists have 14 days after that to complete the inspection, which should take about a half hour.If the egeflex hoses are found, the balloon is grounded until the replacement is complete.Uncorrected, the faulty hoses could cause a fire, the FAA said. The hoses were used with propane burners made by Balony Kubček, the Czech manufacturer that built the large commercial balloon that crashed in Texas on July 30, killing all 16 on board.

EASA had issued an AD (PDF) on July 26 citing three propane leaks reported in the recent past on a burner manufactured by Balony Kubček and equipped with the egeflex hoses. But the FAA said “there is no known correlation between [the] AD action and the hot-air balloon accident” in Texas, according to Politico.

The hoses could easily be installed on any make of balloon, not just ones from the Czech manufacturer, the FAA said, so all balloons must be checked. If the egeflex hoses are found, the replacement should take about two hours and $200 worth of parts, for a total cost of about $370, according to the FAA estimate. “We have no way of determining the number of hot-air balloons that may need the replacement,” the AD says, “but we estimate that it will affect no more than 60 hot-air balloons.” The AD also says, “As of August 29, 2016 (the effective date of this AD), do not install a Kubček fuel hose made of ‘egeflex’ material.”