BB60Z N210GB accident near Fort Carson, Colorado

Probable cause

The pilot’s improper burner control, which allowed the balloon’s envelope to cool, and the balloon’s subsequent encounter with a drop in wind velocity during a highwind landing approach, both of which resulted in the balloon’s descent rate increasing too rapidly for the pilot to arrest it and led to a hard landing.

NTSB analysis

The commercial pilot checked the weather before the air tour balloon flight. The Colorado Springs Municipal Airport (COS) automated weather system reported that the surface wind was 070 degrees at 7 mph. A National Weather Service meteorologist informed the pilot that a front north of Denver was expected to pass through Colorado Springs about 6 hours after the flight was going to take off. The pilot also attempted to contact Lockheed Martin Flight Service (LMFS) twice without success; LMFS reported that, on the morning of the accident, it experienced an abnormally high call volume, which resulted in long wait/hold times. About 15 minutes before taking off, the pilot released a pilot balloon (pibal) from the launch site to check the wind aloft. At first, the pibal drifted toward the west slowly. However, when it reached about 1,000 ft above ground level (agl), it appeared to drift back toward the launch site. The pilot reported that he also noticed a slight breeze blowing in a tall treetop located on a rise south of the launch site.

Before departure, the pilot rechecked the wind at COS, which was still 070 degrees at 7 mph. The balloon lifted off in calm wind conditions. However, as the flight continued, the balloon's groundspeed began to increase rapidly. About 22 minutes into the flight, a crew chief for another balloon company called the pilot and told him that COS was now reporting wind at 18 mph gusting to 26 mph. The pilot reported that he then began looking for a place to land and that, as he was doing this, the wind continued to increase to about 43 mph. The pilot located a large open field and set up for a high-wind landing, which involved descending to about 20 ft agl, at which point he intended to pull out the [parachute] top of the balloon envelope and make a steep, rapid descent to the ground. However, at 100 ft agl, the balloon encountered a drop in wind velocity from about 43 to 26 mph. The pilot had allowed the envelope to cool for the approach, which, along with the drop in wind velocity, caused the balloon's descent rate to increase rapidly. The pilot subsequently fully engaged the burners, but he was unable to arrest the descent, and the balloon impacted the ground hard. One passenger was ejected from the basket but was not injured. Two of the passengers remained in the basket but sustained serious injuries. Because the pilot had fully engaged the burners before it landed, the balloon lifted off again and ascended rapidly. The pilot regained control of the balloon, flew it to an open field, and subsequently conducted a controlled high-wind landing.

Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for CEN15LA300 for the full record.