- Date
- May 3, 2026, 08:15 local (14:15 UTC)
- Place
- Rio Rancho, NM · 35.262800045532, -106.72339030439841
- Injuries
- 1 serious, 1 uninjured
- Damage
- No damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N4022XCameron Balloons US C-80
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Miscellaneous/other
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report July 1, 2026
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Parties
- FAA Lubbock FSDO
- Case key
- 202936
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 passenger’s improper hand placement on the basket upright during landing, which resulted in injury when the upright fractured during the basket’s bounce and drag sequence.
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
The pilot of the balloon reported that he and the passenger, who had recently purchased the balloon, were conducting a local flight. Before departure, he briefed the passenger on proper landing posture and hand placement down low and not on the uprights. The takeoff and enroute phase of the flight were unremarkable. While on final approach to land, the pilot conducted a steep approach and demonstrated ground-tracking maneuvers before the final touchdown. During touchdown, the basket bounced and was dragged across the ground. The passenger was holding onto a basket upright during one of the bounces. Subsequently, the upright fractured and the passenger sustained a serious injury. The pilot reported there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the balloon that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4022X
- Reported as
- Cameron Balloons US C-80
- Category
- Balloon
- Serial number
- 6073
- Built
- 1996
- Damage
- No damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Siarza Lta, LLC
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Balloon
- Last inspection
- Annual · March 6, 2026
- Departed
- NA · Rio Rancho, 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
- 43
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Last flight review
- October 3, 2024
- Seat
- None
- Restraint
- None
- Flight hours
- 90 total · 4 in this make and model · 90 as pilot in command · 4.8 in the last 90 days · 3.5 in the last 30 days · 2.2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 10° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Temperature
- 43 °F, dew point 36 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.27 inHg
- Observed at
- KAEG, 8 nm away
- METAR
- METAR KAEG 021350Z 01008KT 10SM SCT120 06/02 A3027
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on July 1, 2026, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 6.5 MB in all.