- Date
- October 5, 2021, 09:00 local (15:00 UTC)
- Place
- Alburquerque, NM
- Injuries
- 1 serious, 1 uninjured
- Damage
- No damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N518URRichardson Andrew P RICHARDSON-75
- Defining event
- Landing: Hard landing
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Parties
- FAA-FSDO
- Case key
- 104101
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 pilot’s failure to maintain the proper descent rate during the balloon’s approach to landing, which resulted in a hard landing and serious passenger injury.
Findings · 3
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 as the balloon descended to land, about 45-60 ft above ground level, the winds were sustained out of the southwest about 9 to 11 mph. During the landing, the basket touched down firmly, tilted to the side, and then drug along the ground for about 20 ft before coming to rest upright. During the landing sequence, the passenger sustained a serious leg injury. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the balloon that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N518UR
- Reported as
- Richardson Andrew P RICHARDSON-75
- Category
- Balloon
- Serial number
- 007
- Built
- 2015
- Airframe hours
- 260.7
- Damage
- No damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Balloon
- Last inspection
- Annual · February 23, 2021
- Departed
- Albuquerque, NM
- Destination
- Same as departure
- 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
- 55
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Last flight review
- May 24, 2021
- Seat
- None
- Restraint
- None
- Flight hours
- 218.4 total · 209.2 in this make and model · 218.4 as pilot in command · 9.8 in the last 90 days · 4.6 in the last 30 days · 0.8 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 25,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 63 °F, dew point 41 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.29 inHg
- Observed at
- KABQ, 9 nm away
- METAR
- METAR KABQ 051452Z 00000KT 10SM BKN250 17/05 A3029 RMK AO2 SLP196 T01670050 51009
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on November 23, 2021, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 3.8 MB in all.