- Date
- September 15, 2025, 08:10 local (14:10 UTC)
- Place
- Albuquerque, NM
- Injuries
- 1 serious, 8 uninjured
- Damage
- No damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N980VACameron Balloons US A-225
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Abnormal runway contact
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Dawn
- Status
- Completed · report December 4, 2025
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20250915015419A
- Case key
- 201036
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 balloon pilot’s improper landing, which resulted in serious injury to a passenger. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s failure to brief the proper landing procedure.
Findings · 4
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 before takeoff, he instructed passengers to position themselves sideways for landing, with a shoulder facing the direction of travel. At the conclusion of the balloon flight, the pilot anticipated a bumpy landing due to an uneven landing area with knee-high bushes and winds of approximately 14 mph. He directed the passengers to get into the landing position that he had briefed. During landing, the balloon slid approximately twenty-five feet and rolled over before coming to a stop, which resulted in serious injury to one of the passengers. The pilot reported there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions that would have precluded normal operations. He further reported that he was not aware of the manufacturer’s landing procedure, which advises passengers to turn backwards so their back faces the direction of travel and to secure themselves using the basket handle or tank collar.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N980VA
- Reported as
- Cameron Balloons US A-225 (NO SERIES)
- Category
- Balloon
- Serial number
- 6968
- Built
- 2022
- Damage
- No damage
- Flight
- Other work use · Part 91
- Operator
- Rainbow Ryders INC
- Registered owner
- Rainbow Ryders INC
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Balloon
- Departed
- Albuquerque, NM
- Destination
- Same as departure
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
- Certificates
- Private, Commercial
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- September 6, 2025
- Seat
- None
- Restraint
- None
- Flight hours
- 1,309 total · 32 in this make and model · 1,275 as pilot in command · 34 in the last 90 days · 16 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Dawn
- Wind
- 110° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 55 °F, dew point 39 °F
- Altimeter
- 3021.00 inHg
- Observed at
- ABQ METAR, 5 nm away
- METAR
- METAR KABQ 151252Z 11003KT 10SM CLR 13/04 A3021 RMK AO2 SLP162 T01280039
Docket · 4
The files NTSB released with the investigation on December 4, 2025, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 3.5 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.
Other investigations on N980VA · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.