The Ledger Law Firm · Hot air balloon accidents
Hot air balloon accidents, and what to do after one.
From 1964 to 1995, 495 hot air balloon crashes were reported in the United States. 92 people died and 384 were seriously injured. If you were hurt in a balloon accident, or lost someone in one, tell us what happened and our intake team calls you.
- 495U.S. crashes reported, 1964 to 1995
- 92Deaths in those crashes
- 85.1%Involved pilot error or incapacitation
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What happened?
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When did it happen?
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Where do we reach you?
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The numbers
How often hot air balloons crash.
Reported crashes, 1964 to 1995
- People on board1,533
- Seriously injured384
- Killed92
Source: Cowl and others, Journal of the American Medical Association, 1998, from National Transportation Safety Board and Civil Aeronautics Board records.
How a claim moves
- 1Free case evaluationYou tell us what happened.
- 2InvestigationRecords and evidence are gathered.
- 3The claimIt is presented to the insurer or the company responsible.
- 4NegotiationA settlement is discussed.
- 5Lawsuit, if neededIf it does not settle, the case can go to court.
General information. Every case is different.
The firm
The Ledger Law Firm, founded in 1998. The firm has attorneys licensed in California, Texas and Washington.
The fee
A contingency fee
The firm works on a contingency fee: the fee is a percentage of what is recovered. If there is no recovery, you owe no attorney fee, but you may still be responsible for court costs and case expenses.
Why they happen
What the studies of balloon crashes found.
Pilot error
Crash investigators judged that pilot error or incapacitation contributed to 85.1% of the crashes from 1964 to 1995.
Power lines
In that study, contact with a power line was the strongest predictor of a death.
Landing
Of the balloon tour crashes from 2000 to 2011, 81% happened during landing and 65% involved a hard landing.
Trees, buildings and other fixed objects
In those tour crashes, collisions with fixed objects accounted for half of the serious injuries and all five deaths.
Sources: Cowl and others, Journal of the American Medical Association, 1998. Ballard, Beaty and Baker, Aviation, Space, and Environmental Medicine, 2013 (78 balloon tour crashes, 2000 to 2011).
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