Texas man injured in hot air balloon accident

A Longview, Texas, man was injured Sunday morning when the hot air balloon he was piloting fell to the ground near Bass Pro Shops in Bossier City, causing him and a female passenger to fall out of the balloon.

Rick Ashby, 54, and an unidentified woman were participating in a game of throwing bean bags out of the balloon to hit targets on the ground when the balloon crashed, said Bossier City spokesman Mark Natale.



Ashby and his partner had already made their attempt to hit the target when the balloon was on its way down, said spectator Tim Eddington.

The balloon did seem to be descending pretty fast, Eddington said, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary when the balloon hit the ground.



As the balloon started to ascend back into the sky, Ashby grabbed a rope tied to the balloon in an attempt to prevent it from flying away.

The balloon continued to rise and Ashby finally let go and fell to the ground.Eddington, who took photos of the accident, said, "He fell 20—30 feet and the balloon crashed into a clump of trees." Ashby was transported to LSU Hospital with what appeared to be "broken lower extremities."

There's a gallery of photos here.