Man ejected from balloon
Posted at: 10/05/2009 8:27 AM
| Updated at: 10/06/2009 7:32 AM
By: Antionette Antonio, Eyewitness News 4; Reed Upton, KOB.com
According to Becky Flores, a visitor to the Balloon Fiesta, this is the balloon that ejected a man this morning
The incident happened at about 8:00 a.m. As the balloon, Kalista, glided in, it hit the top of a large, white tent on the south end of Fiesta Park.
Richard and Ina van der Craats, a couple from Holland, captured the accident on tape.
"I was just taping the next balloon coming in low and all of a sudden I saw the pilot drop out of it," Richard van der Craats said.
As it turns out, it was the passenger, a Florida man who fell out.
The man, identified as 70-year-old Thomas Hurd , suffered a dislocated hip and head and leg injuries. He was taken to a local hospital.
The pilot of the balloon, 56-year-old Timmerly Ecklund, had a hard landing in the middle of the field but was up and walking around. State police say she was taken to the hospital as a precaution.
It's not clear if it was weather or pilot error that caused the crash. Either way, witnesses are glad the outcome wasn't worse.
"We are relieved that we heard that everything was ok as it can be," Ina van der Craats said.
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