- Date
- November 9, 2025, 07:30 local (14:30 UTC)
- Place
- Rio Rancho, NM
- Injuries
- 1 serious, 1 uninjured
- Damage
- No damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N614LBArbc Inc DBA Lindstrand 77A
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Hard landing
- 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
- Western Pacific Region
- Parties
- FAA-FSDO
- FAA report
- 20251109020699A
- Case key
- 201980
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
An inadvertent hard landing in high wind conditions resulting in serious injury of one of the pilots.
Findings · 2
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
While conducting an instructional flight, the commercial pilot noted that the wind speed was 14 knots during the first approach to land. Someone on the ground reported to the pilot that winds were 8 knots near the landing area. The student pilot who was in control of the balloon elected to climb back up to navigate to the North to make another landing attempt. The pilot discussed the upcoming high wind landing with the student pilot as she prepared for a long approach to landing. The balloon descended at a steady rate and before landing she pulled the rapid-deflation valve line. During the landing, the balloon impacted the ground and bounced back into the air. Both the pilot and the student pilot remained in the bottom of the basket as the student pilot continued to pull the rapid-deflation valve line to deflate the balloon. After contacting the ground again, the basket continued to drag on the ground until the balloon was deflated. The student pilot sustained serious injuries during the landing. There were no mechanical malfunctions reported during the flight.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N614LB
- Reported as
- Arbc Inc DBA Lindstrand 77A
- Category
- Balloon
- Serial number
- 5580
- Built
- 2015
- Damage
- No damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Eakin Sean T
- Registered owner
- Eakin Sean T
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · March 25, 2025 · 183.5 hours before
- Departed
- Albuquerque, NM
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- ABQ
- 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 · 2
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 51
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Medical
- Class 3
- Last flight review
- April 9, 2025
- Seat
- None
- Restraint
- None
- Flight hours
- 314 total · 100 in this make and model · 314 as pilot in command · 24 in the last 90 days · 10 in the last 30 days · 0 in the last 24 hours
- Role
- Student pilot
- Age
- 53
- Injuries
- Serious
- Certificate
- Student
- Seat
- None
- Restraint
- None
- Flight hours
- 19 total · 7 in this make and model · 0 as pilot in command · 10 in the last 90 days · 5 in the last 30 days · 0 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 300° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 32 °F, dew point 16 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.47 inHg
- Icing
- Unknown
- Turbulence
- Unknown
- Observed at
- KAEG, 6 nm away
- METAR
- METAR KAEG 091350Z 30007KT 10SM CLR 00/M09 A3047
Docket · 1
The files NTSB released with the investigation on February 12, 2026, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 13.4 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.