Colorado Aviation Accidents & Incidents

On May 21, 1994, at 0800 mountain daylight time, a Cameron U. S. V-77 hot air balloon, N1992B, sustained no damage in a hard landing. The pilot suffered serious injuries, one passenger minor injuries, and the second passenger no injuries. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for this local area air tour business flight. The flight originated in Durango, Colorado, at 0710.

According to the pilot, she was descending the balloon for a landing in calm winds when a downdraft was encountered. The balloon landed hard and one passenger was ejected from the basket. It then became airborne and ascended to approximately 800 feet above ground level and drifted to the east. A second landing was made in a field and emergency personnel were called to treat the pilot and one passenger. The pilot said she broke her ankle in the initial hard landing and injured it further in the second landing.

All three persons aboard were transported to local medical facilities for evaluation and treatment as required. THE PILOT DID NOT ATTAIN A PROPER LEVEL OFF DURING LANDING. A DOWNDRAFT WHICH WAS ENCOUNTERED WAS A FACTOR.