NTSB investigation into Rochester hot air balloon collision

ROCHESTER — As for the conclusions of a National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigation into a hot air balloon crash in Rochester that occurred earlier this year, it doesn’t stray too far from what millions of people witnessed in the video that went viral.

The NTSB report, released last week, concludes in one sentence that the probable cause of the accident was that pilot Michael Lesmeister “maintained the necessary distance from power lines when landing in a field.”

An NTSB investigator did not travel to the scene of the accident. A disclaimer states that the purpose of the investigation is not to “assign blame or fault for any accident.”

Three weeks after the accident, Lesmeister was given permission to fly again, he said.

The crash on March 20, 2024 was the talk of the town for several days.

Video from the Minnesota Department of Transportation shows the balloon descending rapidly to the ground and striking power lines along U.S. Highway 63 South between 40th Street Southwest and 48th Street Southwest. The collision created an explosive burst of sparks and an electric arc that separated the basket from the envelope.

The basket fell the rest of the way to the ground. Miraculously, Lesmeister and the two passengers were able to climb out of the basket with only minor injuries.

“There was a loud bang, then a brief stop, then a crackle and a shower of sparks,” Lesmeister explained in a three-page handwritten accident report of the terrifying moment. “I vaguely remember the fall, the impact with the surface. The gondola was lying face down in a dry grassy ditch and moving forward.”

In addition to Lesmeister, there were two crew members who served on the ground: Dan Campion as ground chaser and David Greenwaldt as ground crew. Mark Schafer of Oronoco and his stepson were the passengers.

At the bottom of the basket is a picture of Ben Schafer, Mark Schafer’s son. Ben was 37 when he tragically died at home, according to his obituary. Lesmeister offers free hot air balloon rides to veterans and their families to honor their service.

Lesmeister said the weather forecast for that day called for strong, gusty winds in the morning that would ease during the day. When the hot air balloon took off in the early evening, the skies were clear.

After fifteen minutes of flight time, the balloon began to descend. As Lesmeister approached a landing pad parallel to Highway 63 on the west side of the road, the wind suddenly shifted. Because of the speed of the wind shear, there was not enough time to lift the balloon away from the rapidly approaching power lines.

As the surface wind increased, Lesmeister attempted to reach the ground as quickly as possible by pulling down the vent at the top of the balloon to release heat.

He urged his passengers to sit low in the basket as a hard impact with the ground could cause the passengers to be ejected.

The 16 steel cables connecting the nacelle to the hull struck three power lines. The collision caused an electric arc that severed 12 of the 16 cables. The four remaining wires broke as a result of the overload.

After the crash landing, the three of them crawled out of the gondola and miraculously escaped serious injuries, apart from bumps and bruises. The shower of sparks caused dozens of small grass fires in the field. With the help of a few volunteers, the gondola was pulled away from the fires. The balloon envelope drifted away and was recovered a mile from a tree line.

Lesmeister believes there was an intervention that spared them an even more tragic fate. He said the first emergency calls reported there were four passengers in the basket, when in reality there were only three.

Lemeister believes that Ben Schafer, whose memory is honored with his picture on the basket, was the fourth man.

“He broke our fall,” he said.