Colorado Aviation Accidents & Incidents

HISTORY OF FLIGHTOn August 3, 2018, about 0815 mountain daylight time, a Cameron Balloons US A-250 balloon, N2025J, landed in an open field about 12 miles east of Hartsel, Colorado. The commercial rated pilot, commercial rated co-pilot, and seven passengers were not injured; one passenger sustained serious injuries and one passenger was fatally injured. The balloon was not damaged. The balloon was registered to Colorado Rocky Ballooning LLC, Dillon, Colorado, and operated by Colorado Hot Air Balloon Rides under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a revenue sightseeing flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident and no flight plan had been filed. The local flight departed at 0717.

The responding Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector reported that the balloon departed from a field about 6 miles northwest of the accident site. At the end of the sightseeing flight the pilot landed the balloon in a flat field; during the landing the basket bounced several times and tipped over (figure 1).





Figure 1 – Several ground scars leading up to the basket on its side

When the basket tipped over, two female passengers fell out; one landed on top of the other and both sustained injuries. The first injured passenger, age 65, sustained a broken wrist and experienced shoulder pain, while the other injured passenger, age 73, was administered CPR by two of the other passengers, then was flown to a local hospital.

Several of the other passengers onboard the balloon stated after the accident that pilots provided an initial flight briefing as well as a briefing before landing, which included information about how they should situate themselves in the basket for a safe landing. The pilots instructed them to crouch down with their knees bent, hold onto two straps on the basket, face toward the direction of travel, and brace against the side wall since the landing would be rougher than they might expect. The passengers reportedly understood that the basket was expected to tip over after landing. PERSONNEL INFORMATIONThe operator did not report that any of the passengers had a medical condition or physical limitation that would require special precaution or prevent them from riding in the balloon. None of the passengers reported any disqualifying conditions to the operator prior to the flight. AIRCRAFT INFORMATIONThe Cameron Balloons US A-250 envelope has an actual volume and effective lift of 250,000 cubic ft, with a maximum gross weight of 5,000 lbs. The balloon was fitted with an Aerostar Classic XII Basket (RB12-119) and equipped with three burners and three 23.5 gallon liquid propane tanks. The basket is designed to hold 12 passengers and one pilot.

The balloon was equipped with a Flytec 3040 balloon flight instrument. The compact device provides altimeter and variometer (indicates rate of climb/descent) readings, wind speed, ambient temperature, remote envelope temperature sensing, enve