- Date
- July 13, 2024, 06:50 local (12:50 UTC)
- Place
- Casper, WY
- Injuries
- 1 serious, 1 uninjured
- Damage
- No damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N307CKKubicek Factory S R O BB26Z
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: 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
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20240713021089A
- Case key
- 194700
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 inability to maintain control of the balloon after encountering high wind conditions and windshear during the landing, which resulted in the pilot’s ejection from the basket and serious 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 of the balloon stated reported that, during the hour-long flight, the surface winds had increased. During the landing, the pilot “vented out the air to descend” and the balloon “hit the ground hard.” Witnesses who observed the balloon’s approach to the landing field stated the balloon began a rapid descent. Subsequently, the balloon landed hard, and the basket tipped over. The pilot was ejected, resulting in serious injury. The balloon pilot reported there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the balloon that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N307CK
- Reported as
- Kubicek Factory S R O BB26Z
- Category
- Balloon
- Serial number
- 2056
- Damage
- No damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- City Of Riverton
- Registered owner
- City Of Riverton
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Balloon
- Destination
- Same as departure
- 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
- 72
- Injuries
- Serious
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Seat
- None
- Restraint
- None
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 240° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Temperature
- 72 °F, dew point 32 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.22 inHg
- Observed at
- KCPR, 11 nm away
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on February 21, 2025, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 8.7 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.