What happened
The FAA’s narrative, in sentence case. The FAA writes it in capitals and removes private details.
On landing sequence balloon struck one of ground crew personnel. (.4)the pilot was landing the balloon in an elementary school parking lot/playground, when the accident occurred. A ground crewmember became occupied with making sure that a child was out of the way of the balloon as it was touching down. The crewmember diverted her attention away from the basket. Subsequently, the basket hit the crewmember, which resulted in serious injuries. (-23) pilot duane waack attempted a landing in the cleveland elementary school yard in an Aerostar RXS8 balloon. During the landing sequence, one of his ground crew obtained serious injuries to the head, when she was hit by the basket while trying to clear the area of onlookers. The balloon N71493 landed without any further incident to the balloon or its passenger.
As the FAA filed it
ON LANDING SEQUENCE BALLOON STRUCK ONE OF GROUND CREW PERSONNEL. (.4)THE PILOT WAS LANDING THE BALLOON IN AN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PARKING LOT/PLAYGROUND, WHEN THE ACCIDENT OCCURRED. A GROUND CREWMEMBER BECAME OCCUPIED WITH MAKING SURE THAT A CHILD WAS OUT OF THE WAY OF THE BALLOON AS IT WAS TOUCHING DOWN. THE CREWMEMBER DIVERTED HER ATTENTION AWAY FROM THE BASKET. SUBSEQUENTLY, THE BASKET HIT THE CREWMEMBER, WHICH RESULTED IN SERIOUS INJURIES. (-23) PILOT DUANE WAACK ATTEMPTED A LANDING IN THE CLEVELAND ELEMENTARY SCHOOL YARD IN AN AEROSTAR RXS8 BALLOON. DURING THE LANDING SEQUENCE, ONE OF HIS GROUND CREW OBTAINED SERIOUS INJURIES TO THE HEAD, WHEN SHE WAS HIT BY THE BASKET WHILE TRYING TO CLEAR THE AREA OF ONLOOKERS. THE BALLOON N71493 LANDED WITHOUT ANY FURTHER INCIDENT TO THE BALLOON OR ITS PASSENGER.
NTSB investigation
The NTSB’s investigation of this event, with its probable cause and findings. Matched to this report by N-number and date.