What happened
The FAA’s narrative, in sentence case. The FAA writes it in capitals and removes private details.
On November 24,2025 at 0800 a camron A-225 balloon privacy data omitted piloted by a commercially rated pilot departed from a field near cotton wood mall in rio rancho NM on a sight seeing tour with a fligth duration of approx 1 hour, encountered a hard landing. The max altitude the balloon reached was approx 7000 MSL. The wind speeds at take off were approx 3 mph the balloon is operated by a commercial air tour operator located in abq NM. There is no damage to the balloon system. There were 9 persons on board with one passenger suffering a broken leg and the pilot received stitches for a head wound. The wind was reported to be 3 mph at the time of departure. The winds increased to 16 mph gusting to 22 mph. All passengers were briefed that the landing would be rough and advised them of the positions that they needed to be in before touch down. The balloon touched down at 26 mph indicated on the pilots GPS. The pilot was injured as well as one passenger requiring an ambulance. No other passengers were injured in the landing. Jrk
As the FAA filed it
ON NOVEMBER 24,2025 AT 0800 A CAMRON A-225 BALLOON ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^ PILOTED BY A COMMERCIALLY RATED PILOT DEPARTED FROM A FIELD NEAR COTTON WOOD MALL IN RIO RANCHO NM ON A SIGHT SEEING TOUR WITH A FLIGTH DURATION OF APPROX 1 HOUR, ENCOUNTERED A HARD LANDING. THE MAX ALTITUDE THE BALLOON REACHED WAS APPROX 7000 MSL. THE WIND SPEEDS AT TAKE OFF WERE APPROX 3 MPH THE BALLOON IS OPERATED BY A COMMERCIAL AIR TOUR OPERATOR LOCATED IN ABQ NM. THERE IS NO DAMAGE TO THE BALLOON SYSTEM.THERE WERE 9 PERSONS ON BOARD WITH ONE PASSENGER SUFFERING A BROKEN LEG AND THE PILOT RECEIVED STITCHES FOR A HEAD WOUND. THE WIND WAS REPORTED TO BE 3 MPH AT THE TIME OF DEPARTURE. THE WINDS INCREASED TO 16 MPH GUSTING TO 22 MPH. ALL PASSENGERS WERE BRIEFED THAT THE LANDING WOULD BE ROUGH AND ADVISED THEM OF THE POSITIONS THAT THEY NEEDED TO BE IN BEFORE TOUCH DOWN. THE BALLOON TOUCHED DOWN AT 26 MPH INDICATED ON THE PILOTS GPS. THE PILOT WAS INJURED AS WELL AS ONE PASSENGER REQUIRING AN AMBULANCE. NO OTHER PASSENGERS WERE INJURED IN THE LANDING. JRK
NTSB investigation
The NTSB’s investigation of this event, with its probable cause and findings. Matched to this report by N-number and date.
Other reports on N980VA · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.