Cameron Balloons Z-90 N65009 accident near Burlington, Wisconsin

Probable cause

The pilot’s selection of an inappropriate landing location and his failure to avoid an oncoming freight train, which resulted in the train colliding with and dragging the balloon.

NTSB analysis

The pilot was making an approach from the southeast to land the hot air balloon on a road that paralleled railroad tracks. A freight train was traveling northbound on the tracks at the same time. The balloon initially touched down in a grassy area east of the road, between the road and the railroad tracks. The balloon skipped normally and stopped near the railroad tracks. The balloon envelope dipped as a result of being slightly deflated for the landing and caught on one of the uprights of an empty lumber car as it passed, which lifted the balloon off the ground and dragged it.

As the balloon was dragged, the uprights, envelope, burners, and fuel lines separated from the basket and the pilot and passengers were ejected. The engineer in the engine cab immediately stopped the train. The basket came to rest inverted along the east side of the railroad tracks. The envelope climbed to 200 ft. and drifted north until it cooled and came to rest on the road, about 80 ft from the basket.

The pilot misjudged the landing, which placed him too close to the railroad tracks and resulted in the balloon’s envelope being caught and the balloon being dragged by the freight train as it went by.

Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for CEN22LA221 for the full record.