The recommendation follows an accident in Canterbury on January 1 this year in which a pilot was thrown from a basket and dragged 35 metres across a farm paddock with a rope caught around his neck.
The 67-year-old Adventure Balloons pilot was badly injured in the accident in Lyndhurst near Methven.
The balloon was carrying seven passengers on the scenic flight but no-one else was injured, according to a preliminary report by the Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC).
It was fitted with a pilot restraint harness but he was not wearing one during the flight.
The report noted a similar accident in Arrowtown where a balloon carrying 10 passengers hit the ground, throwing the unrestrained pilot out of the basket.
It had crashed into a low bank after it was caught in a wind gust as it came in to land near a house on July 11 last year.
The basket came to rest 150 metres away, leaving the pilot with moderate injuries.
Under Civil Aviation Rules, balloon pilots are exempt from wearing restraint harnesses during landings.
The commission recommended that the Civil Aviation director take prompt steps to mandate the wearing of harnesses during critical phases of commercial balloon flights.
"In the interests of transport safety, it is important that recommendations are implemented without delay to help prevent similar accidents or incidents occurring in the future," the report said.
The TAIC said balloon owners and operators should consider installing pilot restraint harnesses if they were not already fitted to their baskets.
- additional reporting ODT
