CEN15LA314

The pilot reported that, as the balloon descended, the wind speed increased. He aborted the first landing to avoid power lines and chose to land in an adjacent field. During the landing, the balloon encountered a downdraft after the pilot turned off the burners and pulled the parachute top to release hot air. The balloon impacted the ground hard, dragged the basket a short distance, and then stopped. The balloon was not damaged, but the pilot's left hip and ankle were broken during the hard landing. An examination of the balloon and its systems revealed no anomalies.

On July 22, 2015, about 00830 central daylight time, an ARBC Inc. 69X balloon, N76627, tipped over while landing near Longview, Texas. The pilot, the sole occupant, sustained serious injuries. The balloon was not damaged. The balloon was registered to and operated by the pilot under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a competition flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the flight, which operated without a flight plan. The local flight departed about 0710. The pilot reported that after completing all three competition tasks he started to look for a place to land. As he descended the wind speed increased and the first few fields were too small to land in with windy conditions. The pilot aborted the first landing to avoid powerlines and elected to land in an adjacent field. The pilot reported that he encountered a downdraft after turning off his burners and pulling the parachute top to release hot air. He stated that the impact with the ground was hard and the balloon tipped over and stopped after dragging the basket a short distance. The balloon was not damaged but the pilot had serious injuries to his left leg during the hard landing. The pilot stated that there were no mechanical anomalies with the balloon that would have precluded normal operations.