- Date
- September 9, 2025, 18:30 local (22:30 UTC)
- Place
- Cedar Springs, MI
- Injuries
- 1 serious, 1 minor, 1 uninjured
- Damage
- No damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N418RXCameron Balloons US Z-90
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Miscellaneous/other
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 12, 2026
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration, Grand Rapids FSDO
- FAA report
- 20250909017369A
- Case key
- 201065
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The passenger’s loss of balance during landing that resulted in a serious injury.
Findings · 1
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The pilot stated that the passengers were given a safety briefing prior to the balloon flight, in which they were informed to face forward and to secure themselves prior to landing. During landing, one of the passengers lost her balance and fell onto another passenger and sustained a serious injury to her ankle. The pilot stated there was no mechanical malfunction/failure of the balloon that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N418RX
- Reported as
- Cameron Balloons US Z-90
- Category
- Balloon
- Serial number
- 6845
- Built
- 2018
- Airframe hours
- 256.2
- Damage
- No damage
- Flight
- Other work use · Part 91
- Operator
- Michigan Hot Air Adventures
- Registered owner
- Michigan Hot Air Adventures
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Balloon
- Last inspection
- Annual · March 11, 2025
- Departed
- Rockford, MI
- Equipment
- None
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 65
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Medical
- Class 2
- Last flight review
- April 25, 2024
- Seat
- None
- Restraint
- None
- Flight hours
- 1,576 total · 1,576 as pilot in command · 3 in the last 90 days · 3 in the last 30 days · 0 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 230° at 2 knots
- Visibility
- 11.5 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Observed at
- K8D4, 8 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on February 12, 2026, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 2.9 MB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.