What happened
The FAA’s narrative, in sentence case. The FAA writes it in capitals and removes private details.
(-23) Airman crashed his balloon while competing in balloon federation of america race. Pilot sustained major injuries and admitted to the Anderson, SC hospital. The balloon sustained substantial damage. The airman got confused at about 8000' MSL and could not determine if he was ascending or descending so he increased the blast valve in excess and caused damage to the parachute valve at the top of the envelope which intern released all the hot air from the balloon and it descended now from 13,558' MSL to the ground and impacted a tree and throwing the pilot out to the ground 12' below.
As the FAA filed it
(-23) AIRMAN CRASHED HIS BALLOON WHILE COMPETING IN BALLOON FEDERATION OF AMERICA RACE. PILOT SUSTAINED MAJOR INJURIES AND ADMITTED TO THE ANDERSON, SC HOSPITAL. THE BALLOON SUSTAINED SUBSTANTIAL DAMAGE. THE AIRMAN GOT CONFUSED AT ABOUT 8000' MSL AND COULD NOT DETERMINE IF HE WAS ASCENDING OR DESCENDING SO HE INCREASED THE BLAST VALVE IN EXCESS AND CAUSED DAMAGE TO THE PARACHUTE VALVE AT THE TOP OF THE ENVELOPE WHICH INTERN RELEASED ALL THE HOT AIR FROM THE BALLOON AND IT DESCENDED NOW FROM 13,558' MSL TO THE GROUND AND IMPACTED A TREE AND THROWING THE PILOT OUT TO THE GROUND 12' BELOW.
NTSB investigation
The NTSB’s investigation of this event, with its probable cause and findings. Matched to this report by N-number and date.