Hot Air Ballooning is an adventure activity. Modern training systems and balloon technology mean that it is relatively uncommon for people to be injured in a hot air balloon accident but ballooning will always be an adventure and like all adventures carries a level of risk. This article describes the types and frequency of balloon accidents and incidents as reported to aviation Authorities in Australia, USA and UK during the period June 1985 – June 2009.

In this article the terms accident and incident are used to refer to the occurrence outcomes. An incident is defined as any event during which the safety of the aircraft or its occupants are at risk including those events where a person may have sustained a minor injury which did not require medical attention or the aircraft might have sustained minor damage. An accident is defined as an event where a person or persons sustain serious or fatal injuries or the aircraft sustains serious damage.

Accident / Incident Types

Hot air balloon accidents and incidents occur for a variety of reasons. Like most activities, human error is frequently mentioned as a primary causal factor in reports. In the hot air ballooning environment it is often very difficult to distinguish between human error and weather related factors. There were no occurrences in the review data where a hot air balloon accident or incident was attributed to failure of the balloon hardware.

Statistics

A review of hot air balloon accidents and incidents in the USA, Australia and United Kingdom was conducted in late 2009. Selected results of this review are shown in graphical form below.

Analysis

The review established a number of key points in relation to balloon accidents and incidents.

• As a pilot gains experience they are statisticallly less likely to be involved in an accident.
• Pilots with low levels of command experience are many times more likely to be involved in incidents than more experienced pilots.
• If a more experienced pilot has an occurence it is more likely to be an accident rather than an incident.
• Pilots 600 – 800 hours command experience are more likely to be involved in an accident than pilots with less experience.
• Approximately 80% of fatal injuries are the result of a fall following a wire strike.

Australia had an overall lower accident rate of 13.07 accidents / 100,000 hours flying activity than did the USA at 33.62 or UK at 21.76.

Hot Air Balloon Accidents - Causes - Statistics -  - Technical data content credited to Mr Steve Griffin