CEN23LA305

While conducting a sightseeing flight for a balloon festival, the pilot noted wind about 17 miles per hour (mph). He was unable to locate calmer winds at different altitudes. The pilot decided to terminate the flight and briefed the passengers for a high wind landing. During the high wind landing, the basket touched down hard and began to drag. One passenger was ejected from the basket which resulted in the balloon becoming airborne. The pilot was releasing air through the top vent and the balloon settled again to the ground and dragged to a stop. The passenger who was ejected and another passenger that remained in the basket were seriously injured. The pilot and two passengers had minor injuries. There were no mechanical malfunctions with the balloon. Prior to the flight, the pilot obtained a weather brief, and the weather forecast reported a front to pass around 0800. After considering the weather, the pilot decided to launch on a low, short flight between 30 to 45 minutes. The pilot reported that he launched at 0643 and a couple minutes later, he noticed the winds aloft were stronger than expected and attempted to find a suitable landing area. On the pilot’s weather forecast, obtained several hours prior to the flight, the velocity and direction (VAD) winds showed wind at 5,900 ft mean sea level (msl) at 19 kts, which increased to 26 kts at 6,200 ft msl. At 0655, the closest aviation weather reporting facility reported a calm wind. At 0715, the same facility reported wind at 5 knots gusting to 15 knots.