- Date
- January 30, 2026, 09:30 local (16:30 UTC)
- Place
- Durango, CO · golf course
- Injuries
- 1 serious, 3 uninjured; on the ground: 1 serious
- Damage
- No damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N4010KAdams Balloon A55S
- Defining event
- Landing: Miscellaneous/other
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 19, 2026
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- FAA Flight Standards
- FAA report
- 20260130001149I
- Case key
- 202387
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 ground crewmember’s failure to immediately let go of the balloon after it began an inadvertent climb while landing.
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 reported that the hot air ballon flight lasted about 45 minutes and covered a distance of about 1.2 miles at 1,000 ft above ground level. During landing, a person assisting with recovery of another balloon came over to assist with recovery of the accident balloon. She grabbed the edge of the basket upon initial contact with the ground in an attempt to stabilize the balloon. However, the basket subsequently lifted off the ground 4 to 5 ft before coming to a stop. As the balloon became airborne again, the person assisting lost her hold on the basket and fell to the ground. The person did not initially seek medical treatment, but later in the day, she was diagnosed with a broken leg. There was no damage to the balloon, nor were there any injuries to the pilot and two passengers onboard.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4010K
- Reported as
- Adams Balloon A55S
- Category
- Balloon
- Serial number
- 245
- Built
- 2017
- Airframe hours
- 133
- Engine
- N/A N/A, none
- Damage
- No damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Balloon
- Last inspection
- Annual · September 16, 2025
- Departed
- N/A · Durango, CO
- Destination
- N/A · Durango, CO
- Airport
- N/A
- Equipment
- Handheld GPS
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
- 62
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Last flight review
- September 7, 2025
- Seat
- None
- Restraint
- None
- Flight hours
- 749 total · 146 in this make and model · 2 in the last 90 days · 1 in the last 30 days · 0 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 110° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 28 °F, dew point 14 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.40 inHg
- Observed at
- KDRO, 15 nm away
- METAR
- METAR KDRO 301653Z AUTO 11004KT 10SM CLR M02/M10 A3040
Docket · 1
The files NTSB released with the investigation on March 19, 2026, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 3.4 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.