PIERMONT, NH (AP) — An initial report released Monday notes how 3 passengers were able to request radio assistance and land a hot air balloon without injury in July after its pilot and a fourth passenger were thrown overboard through the tunnel. of an initial crash and bounce into the sky.
Pilot Brian Boland, 72, died in the crash that took off July 15 from an airport he owns in Thetford, Vermont, with 4 passengers aboard the balloon that was registered for tourism, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.
The balloon flew northeast along the Connecticut River, sailing for about forty-five minutes before Boland reported that the burner was gently shutting down. Boland switched to a new propane tank, but may not locate the firing locating to turn the burner back on, one passenger said. the protection office.
Boland discovered a rescue striker and turned on the burner, but the ball had gone down too low to avoid affecting the ground. He tapped an area south of Bradford, Vermont, throwing a passenger out of the basket and sending the pilot into the water with one foot tangled in the balloon’s fastening rope, according to the protection panel.
The balloon soared into the sky, carrying Boland under the basket before falling into a box near the Connecticut River.
The remaining passengers touched the floor aid on a portable radio, receiving orders on how to use the balloon for landing. The ship traveled about 3. 5 miles from the site of the initial turn of the destination before coming into contact with trees and crashing into wooded terrain. in Piermont, New Hampshire, according to the protection council.
The passenger who was shot out of the basket suffered minor injuries, while the other 3 were not injured.
Boland, who had more than 11,000 hours of balloon flying, a forerunner of the experimental structure of balloons lighter than air, pushed major brands in light balloon designs that “we wouldn’t have today without Brian, for his creativity, his passion,” said Mick Murphy, balloon pilot and former president of the Balloon Federation of America.
Boland founded the Experimental Association of Aircraft and Balloons, which he founded in the small airport of personal mail generators that he owned.