What happened
The FAA’s narrative, in sentence case. The FAA writes it in capitals and removes private details.
(-23) Balloon lifted off on a commercial sightseeing flight with nine passengers and two crew members on board. The private rated balloon pilot was at the controls, being supervised by the commercial rated balloon pilot. About 15 minutes into the flight, as the balloon approached a mountain ridge, a strong tail wind began to accelerate the balloon rapidly toward a rocky crag on the ridge. The commercial rated pilot took over the controls and started using two burners in an effort to clear the ridge. They failed to clear the ridge and impacted the rocky outcropping about eight feet below the top. The basket bounced twice, went up to a horizontal position and the balloon was dragged over the top of the ridge righting itself on the other side. It drifted a mile and a half to a normal touchdown on the desert floor. One person was fatally injured, four were critically injured, four had minor injuries and the two crewmembers were uninjured. All injuries occurred when the basket impacted the rocky outcropping on the ridge. The impact was so hard that every weld in the stainless steel tubing structure was broken and there was severe breakage of the wicker at the points of impact.
As the FAA filed it
(-23) BALLOON LIFTED OFF ON A COMMERCIAL SIGHTSEEING FLIGHT WITH NINE PASSENGERS AND TWO CREW MEMBERS ON BOARD. THE PRIVATE RATED BALLOON PILOT WAS AT THE CONTROLS, BEING SUPERVISED BY THE COMMERCIAL RATED BALLOON PILOT. ABOUT 15 MINUTES INTO THE FLIGHT, AS THE BALLOON APPROACHED A MOUNTAIN RIDGE, A STRONG TAIL WIND BEGAN TO ACCELERATE THE BALLOON RAPIDLY TOWARD A ROCKY CRAG ON THE RIDGE. THE COMMERCIAL RATED PILOT TOOK OVER THE CONTROLS AND STARTED USING TWO BURNERS IN AN EFFORT TO CLEAR THE RIDGE. THEY FAILED TO CLEAR THE RIDGE AND IMPACTED THE ROCKY OUTCROPPING ABOUT EIGHT FEET BELOW THE TOP. THE BASKET BOUNCED TWICE, WENT UP TO A HORIZONTAL POSITION AND THE BALLOON WAS DRAGGED OVER THE TOP OF THE RIDGE RIGHTING ITSELF ON THE OTHER SIDE. IT DRIFTED A MILE AND A HALF TO A NORMAL TOUCHDOWN ON THE DESERT FLOOR. ONE PERSON WAS FATALLY INJURED, FOUR WERE CRITICALLY INJURED, FOUR HAD MINOR INJURIES AND THE TWO CREWMEMBERS WERE UNINJURED. ALL INJURIES OCCURRED WHEN THE BASKET IMPACTED THE ROCKY OUTCROPPING ON THE RIDGE. THE IMPACT WAS SO HARD THAT EVERY WELD IN THE STAINLESS STEEL TUBING STRUCTURE WAS BROKEN AND THERE WAS SEVERE BREAKAGE OF THE WICKER AT THE POINTS OF IMPACT.
NTSB investigation
The NTSB’s investigation of this event, with its probable cause and findings. Matched to this report by N-number and date.