Narrative:

After a calm launch, I took 3 ladies, 50-60 yrs old, on a balloon ride going east from dacono, co, to northeast of brighton, co. After 50 mins of flight, I was looking for a field to land in. Surface winds were generally 1-5 KTS out of the wnw. Smoke from a nearby power plant and earlier contour flight verified this fact. We rose up over upcoming houses and spotted 3 possible fields for landing. Beyond these fields were several mi of inaccessible area. I descended and a slight wind shift on the surface prevented me from reaching the first field, so I came into the second field. The proximity of livestock and questionable access caused me to abort this landing and proceed to the third field, just to the northeast, that had no livestock. The wind had increased to 6-8 KTS during my descent, so I told the ladies to hang on for a rough landing in preparation for a typical windy landing as described in the preflight briefing. We made impact with the ground and dragged about 10-15 ft, rather minor for a windy landing. On initial impact, one of the ladies at the front of the basket lost her grip and instinctively put her hand down on the ground, (since the basket had tipped over and was dragging at this point) and broke her arm. We warn of this situation in our preflight information letter and in the preflight briefing. It seems that one of the other ladies lost her grip and bounced into the lady causing her to break her arm when she lost her grip. A contributing factor may have been I was too occupied and concerned over the skittish horses that came out into their corrals and then trying to maneuver to the next field. I did not reinforce landing instructions as much as I might have and position the ladies lower in the basket and ensure they were securely hanging on. Perhaps I should have aborted this landing altogether and hoped to find another site further on, within a reasonable amount of time. Lastly, the crew had radioed prior to my first approach saying they were having problems with one of the chase vehicles. This might have had a subconscious impact on my decision not to fly on. Callback conversation with reporter revealed the following information: the reporter is a full time balloonist, 'flying in the morning and working in a repair station in the afternoon.' the lady that was injured, a nurse, stated to the reporter 'I did everything that you told me not to do!' she was the only one injured. Her insurance took care of the whole thing. The reporter states that he had given his passenger a proper briefing both prior to takeoff and landing.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A HOT AIR BALLOON PAX BROKE HER ARM DURING A HIGH WIND LNDG.

Narrative: AFTER A CALM LAUNCH, I TOOK 3 LADIES, 50-60 YRS OLD, ON A BALLOON RIDE GOING E FROM DACONO, CO, TO NE OF BRIGHTON, CO. AFTER 50 MINS OF FLT, I WAS LOOKING FOR A FIELD TO LAND IN. SURFACE WINDS WERE GENERALLY 1-5 KTS OUT OF THE WNW. SMOKE FROM A NEARBY PWR PLANT AND EARLIER CONTOUR FLT VERIFIED THIS FACT. WE ROSE UP OVER UPCOMING HOUSES AND SPOTTED 3 POSSIBLE FIELDS FOR LNDG. BEYOND THESE FIELDS WERE SEVERAL MI OF INACCESSIBLE AREA. I DSNDED AND A SLIGHT WIND SHIFT ON THE SURFACE PREVENTED ME FROM REACHING THE FIRST FIELD, SO I CAME INTO THE SECOND FIELD. THE PROX OF LIVESTOCK AND QUESTIONABLE ACCESS CAUSED ME TO ABORT THIS LNDG AND PROCEED TO THE THIRD FIELD, JUST TO THE NE, THAT HAD NO LIVESTOCK. THE WIND HAD INCREASED TO 6-8 KTS DURING MY DSCNT, SO I TOLD THE LADIES TO HANG ON FOR A ROUGH LNDG IN PREPARATION FOR A TYPICAL WINDY LNDG AS DESCRIBED IN THE PREFLT BRIEFING. WE MADE IMPACT WITH THE GND AND DRAGGED ABOUT 10-15 FT, RATHER MINOR FOR A WINDY LNDG. ON INITIAL IMPACT, ONE OF THE LADIES AT THE FRONT OF THE BASKET LOST HER GRIP AND INSTINCTIVELY PUT HER HAND DOWN ON THE GND, (SINCE THE BASKET HAD TIPPED OVER AND WAS DRAGGING AT THIS POINT) AND BROKE HER ARM. WE WARN OF THIS SIT IN OUR PREFLT INFO LETTER AND IN THE PREFLT BRIEFING. IT SEEMS THAT ONE OF THE OTHER LADIES LOST HER GRIP AND BOUNCED INTO THE LADY CAUSING HER TO BREAK HER ARM WHEN SHE LOST HER GRIP. A CONTRIBUTING FACTOR MAY HAVE BEEN I WAS TOO OCCUPIED AND CONCERNED OVER THE SKITTISH HORSES THAT CAME OUT INTO THEIR CORRALS AND THEN TRYING TO MANEUVER TO THE NEXT FIELD. I DID NOT REINFORCE LNDG INSTRUCTIONS AS MUCH AS I MIGHT HAVE AND POS THE LADIES LOWER IN THE BASKET AND ENSURE THEY WERE SECURELY HANGING ON. PERHAPS I SHOULD HAVE ABORTED THIS LNDG ALTOGETHER AND HOPED TO FIND ANOTHER SITE FURTHER ON, WITHIN A REASONABLE AMOUNT OF TIME. LASTLY, THE CREW HAD RADIOED PRIOR TO MY FIRST APCH SAYING THEY WERE HAVING PROBS WITH ONE OF THE CHASE VEHICLES. THIS MIGHT HAVE HAD A SUBCONSCIOUS IMPACT ON MY DECISION NOT TO FLY ON. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: THE RPTR IS A FULL TIME BALLOONIST, 'FLYING IN THE MORNING AND WORKING IN A REPAIR STATION IN THE AFTERNOON.' THE LADY THAT WAS INJURED, A NURSE, STATED TO THE RPTR 'I DID EVERYTHING THAT YOU TOLD ME NOT TO DO!' SHE WAS THE ONLY ONE INJURED. HER INSURANCE TOOK CARE OF THE WHOLE THING. THE RPTR STATES THAT HE HAD GIVEN HIS PAX A PROPER BRIEFING BOTH PRIOR TO TKOF AND LNDG.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.