Commercial ballooning operations was added to SafetyWatch after the ATSB identified a trend toward a heightened exposure to risk in the sector, as compared to other forms of charter aviation.
Occurrence data collected from industry by the ATSB has identified an accident rate and serious incident rate in balloon operations around 10 times that of charter operations in aeroplanes and helicopters, on a per flight basis.
Risk is further heightened as the average commercial balloon flight carries twice to three times as many passengers as the average aeroplane or helicopter charter flight. This has become more pronounced in recent years, with data from the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) indicating a growth over the last 15 years in the number of large balloons in Australia, as well as an increase in the size of the largest balloons in more recent years.
This trend towards more, larger balloons is mirrored with a trend towards more passengers per flight, with some balloons now able to carry up to 24 passengers at a time.
Number of large VH-registered balloons on 30 June, 2007 to 2022 (Source: CASA)
Despite this higher rate of safety occurrences, and higher capacity for fare paying members of the public, commercial balloon operations have fewer proposed requirements for Safety Management Systems than other low-capacity passenger aviation types.
Safety Study
To support this SafetyWatch item, the ATSB in July 2023 launched a Safety Study, AS-2023-002. It is intended that this study will benchmark ballooning operations in Australia against other similar operations, to identify systemic areas of concern. The results of this benchmark will form the basis of the ballooning safety watch initiative, and will identify what further investigation, research and education work is required for this sector of operations.
Once established, the systemic safety concerns identified will be shared with industry to promote a generative safety culture, encourage further reporting of occurrences, and drive future safety action.
Recent investigation reports involving balloon operations
Recent reports relating to balloon operations published by the ATSB have included:
AO-2022-028: Collision with terrain involving Kubicek Balloons BB78Z, VH-RJR, Elwood, Victoria on 20 April 2022
A balloon carrying a pilot and 13 passengers collided with rooftops prior to a forced landing in a suburban street, after a fault with the balloon’s modified deflation system rendered it unable to maintain altitude without excessive fuel burn.
AO-2022-037: Mid-air collision between hot air balloons, VH-FSR and VH-OOP 6 km south-east of Alice Springs Airport, Northern Territory, on 18 July 2022
Two balloons – one carrying a pilot and 23 passengers, the other carrying a pilot and 10 passengers – collided in mid-air near Alice Springs. Fortunately, the collision was between the balloons’ envelopes. Another mid-air balloon collision, in Alice Springs in 1989, was a canopy to basket collision, and resulted in fatal injuries to the pilot and 12 passengers. Read more
AO-2022-003: Hard landing involving Kavanagh Balloons B-350, VH-BSW, 2 km south of Lilydale Airport, Victoria on 31 December 2021
A balloon with a pilot and 16 passengers on board had a hard landing in a field after the surface wind near the originally-planned landing area increased, and the pilot had to consider alternate options. Two passengers were seriously injured. Read more