Narrative:

I was on a local pleasure flight in a cessna 152 with a passenger. We took off from cps and proceeded to circumnav counterclockwise around the st louis class B airspace. We came upon the vicinity of city of st charles where my passenger's house was located. My passenger expressed his wish to fly over his house. There was a balloon launch event being held at st charles at the time and I could see scores of balloons in flight over the distance. I expressed to my passenger my concern that flying over his house might bring us rather too close to the balloons. But my passenger pleaded that we fly over his house, and that we can stay well away from the balloons while doing so. I finally agreed and proceeded toward my passenger's house, while keeping close eye on the balloons, the st louis class B airspace, and the sus class D airspace. It became a sort of balancing act between trying to stay away from the balloons and trying to stay away from the sus class D airspace. We managed to stay about 3000 ft away from the balloons and clear of sus class D airspace. We then resumed our circular counterclockwise flight around the st louis class B airspace back to cps and landed. After we landed, we were notified that an FAA inspector was at the st charles balloon launch site and thought that we were flying too closely to the balloons, although we were never close enough to the balloons to cause any problems. I should never have let my passenger talk me into doing something I wasn't comfortable with.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: AN SMA PLT APPEARED TO FLY TOO CLOSE TO SEVERAL HOT AIR BALLOONS THAT WERE ENGAGED IN A SPECIAL INTEREST ACTIVITY HOT AIR BALLOON MEET.

Narrative: I WAS ON A LCL PLEASURE FLT IN A CESSNA 152 WITH A PAX. WE TOOK OFF FROM CPS AND PROCEEDED TO CIRCUMNAV COUNTERCLOCKWISE AROUND THE ST LOUIS CLASS B AIRSPACE. WE CAME UPON THE VICINITY OF CITY OF ST CHARLES WHERE MY PAX'S HOUSE WAS LOCATED. MY PAX EXPRESSED HIS WISH TO FLY OVER HIS HOUSE. THERE WAS A BALLOON LAUNCH EVENT BEING HELD AT ST CHARLES AT THE TIME AND I COULD SEE SCORES OF BALLOONS IN FLT OVER THE DISTANCE. I EXPRESSED TO MY PAX MY CONCERN THAT FLYING OVER HIS HOUSE MIGHT BRING US RATHER TOO CLOSE TO THE BALLOONS. BUT MY PAX PLEADED THAT WE FLY OVER HIS HOUSE, AND THAT WE CAN STAY WELL AWAY FROM THE BALLOONS WHILE DOING SO. I FINALLY AGREED AND PROCEEDED TOWARD MY PAX'S HOUSE, WHILE KEEPING CLOSE EYE ON THE BALLOONS, THE ST LOUIS CLASS B AIRSPACE, AND THE SUS CLASS D AIRSPACE. IT BECAME A SORT OF BALANCING ACT BTWN TRYING TO STAY AWAY FROM THE BALLOONS AND TRYING TO STAY AWAY FROM THE SUS CLASS D AIRSPACE. WE MANAGED TO STAY ABOUT 3000 FT AWAY FROM THE BALLOONS AND CLR OF SUS CLASS D AIRSPACE. WE THEN RESUMED OUR CIRCULAR COUNTERCLOCKWISE FLT AROUND THE ST LOUIS CLASS B AIRSPACE BACK TO CPS AND LANDED. AFTER WE LANDED, WE WERE NOTIFIED THAT AN FAA INSPECTOR WAS AT THE ST CHARLES BALLOON LAUNCH SITE AND THOUGHT THAT WE WERE FLYING TOO CLOSELY TO THE BALLOONS, ALTHOUGH WE WERE NEVER CLOSE ENOUGH TO THE BALLOONS TO CAUSE ANY PROBS. I SHOULD NEVER HAVE LET MY PAX TALK ME INTO DOING SOMETHING I WASN'T COMFORTABLE WITH.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.