What happened
The FAA’s narrative, in sentence case. The FAA writes it in capitals and removes private details.
On October 17, 2024, around 0730 MST, Cameron ballon A-275, was making an approach to landing. The ballon was descending towards the surface, heading from the west in a easterly direction. The landing site was at approximately 199th ave, north of happy valley road. The final landing decent was over a sparsely populated area. There was a residential powerline in the approach path that the pilot not see until the ballon was too low to abort the landing. The balloon basket collided with the powerline resulting in the powerline and the supporting power pole snapping. The balloon continued to move forward and landed two minutes after the collision. There were no injuries to either people on the ground or in the ballon. Damage to the balloon was limited to one separated suspension cable with no other significant damage to the aircraft.
As the FAA filed it
ON OCTOBER 17, 2024, AROUND 0730 MST, CAMERON BALLON A-275, WAS MAKING AN APPROACH TO LANDING. THE BALLON WAS DESCENDING TOWARDS THE SURFACE, HEADING FROM THE WEST IN A EASTERLY DIRECTION. THE LANDING SITE WAS AT APPROXIMATELY 199TH AVE, NORTH OF HAPPY VALLEY ROAD. THE FINAL LANDING DECENT WAS OVER A SPARSELY POPULATED AREA. THERE WAS A RESIDENTIAL POWERLINE IN THE APPROACH PATH THAT THE PILOT NOT SEE UNTIL THE BALLON WAS TOO LOW TO ABORT THE LANDING. THE BALLOON BASKET COLLIDED WITH THE POWERLINE RESULTING IN THE POWERLINE AND THE SUPPORTING POWER POLE SNAPPING. THE BALLOON CONTINUED TO MOVE FORWARD AND LANDED TWO MINUTES AFTER THE COLLISION. THERE WERE NO INJURIES TO EITHER PEOPLE ON THE GROUND OR IN THE BALLON. DAMAGE TO THE BALLOON WAS LIMITED TO ONE SEPARATED SUSPENSION CABLE WITH NO OTHER SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE TO THE AIRCRAFT.
NTSB investigation
The NTSB’s investigation of this event, with its probable cause and findings. Matched to this report by N-number and date.