Narrative:

While descending on the STAR ATC notified us of possible hot balloon traffic on or near a fix on the arrival. Shortly thereafter; I saw the balloon directly on our path and at our altitude. I immediately turned 20 degrees right and continued our descent. We immediately told ATC we were deviating to avoid balloon traffic. By the time we were abeam the balloon we were well below it. Unfortunately; neither us or ATC knew if the balloon was tethered. When we were done deviating; ATC cleared back on route. No loss of separation was encountered to the best of my knowledge. While on final approach; we encountered another hot air balloon. We were on final at 1000 feet. We saw a balloon at our altitude just to the right of course. ATC didn't seem to be aware of this balloon. We notified ATC of the traffic. No deviation was necessary. We made a normal landing.

Google
 

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B767 flight crew reported taking evasive action while on approach to Sao Paulo to avoid a hot air balloon.

Narrative: While descending on the STAR ATC notified us of possible hot balloon traffic on or near a fix on the arrival. Shortly thereafter; I saw the balloon directly on our path and at our altitude. I immediately turned 20 degrees right and continued our descent. We immediately told ATC we were deviating to avoid balloon traffic. By the time we were abeam the balloon we were well below it. Unfortunately; neither us or ATC knew if the balloon was tethered. When we were done deviating; ATC cleared back on route. No loss of separation was encountered to the best of my knowledge. While on final approach; we encountered another hot air balloon. We were on final at 1000 feet. We saw a balloon at our altitude just to the right of course. ATC didn't seem to be aware of this balloon. We notified ATC of the traffic. No deviation was necessary. We made a normal landing.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.