Incident Overview
A passenger suffered a broken ankle during the landing of a balloon flight. The balloon struck a barbed wire fence and subsequently impacted a road bank.
Passenger Account
The passenger stated that during the landing, the chase crew yelled out a warning about a fence. She recalled being taught during a class to face the direction of travel with knees flexed for landing. However, she noted that there was insufficient room in the basket, with her husband standing behind her and the pilot standing to her left. At the time of landing, she was holding onto a rope handle inside the balloon and was attempting to move a water bottle on the floor of the basket with her left foot.
Pilot Account
The pilot reported that the passenger was observed not following landing instructions. Specifically, the passenger was not facing the direction of travel; instead, her left side was oriented toward the direction of travel.
Injury
The passenger sustained a broken ankle as a result of the landing sequence.