One of my favorite jokes is about a student paratrooper who was told that when he jumped, the static line would open his main chute. If that didn't work he could deploy his emergency chute and when he landed there would be a jeep to pick him up. The static line didn't open his main chute so he pulled on the rip chord of his emergency chute. That didn't open . As he was on his drop, he looked down and said, "I'll bet that damn jeep won't be there either".
Bob- I can happily report I have the same number of take-offs and landings. Jeep would not have done much good when our 3000 lb capsule came down at about 32 fps.
As a LTA Pilot myself and a former Repair Station Owner and FAA Designated Safety Counselor, I say balloons are safe. If you look at any aviation accident the NTSB investigates, you'll see the blame is usually on the pilot. It could be poor decision making in the moment, poor maintenance, poor fuel management decisions, poor choice of weather, and pressure to fly by fare paying passengers, etc. I'd love to see Ron Iver's logbook.
Lived in Albuquerque nearly 30 years. Lots of flights there with only a few casualties, nearly all caused by pilot error or really bad luck.