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LESUEUR COUNTY, Minn. -- Four people were slightly injured and one of them seriously after the hot air balloon they were riding in crashed in LeSueur County Thursday night.
Deputies were dispatched just before 9 p.m. to a scene just off LeSueur County Road 32 on reports that someone had fallen from the basket of a hot air balloon.
"Due to the time of night, it was starting to get dark and I guess, they were just going to land along County Road 32," said LeSueur County Sheriff Tom Doherty.
However, the pilot hit a ditch hard, causing the balloon basket to flip. The pilot was thrown from the basket into the ditch while the balloon skidded into a nearby field with the four passengers hanging on for dear life.
"The other four rode with the basket for probably about 250-300 yards into a field before coming to a rest," said Sheriff Doherty.
59-year-old passenger David Wheeler, Sr, of Coon Rapids, praised pilot Edward Chapman, 64, of Jordan and Chapman's wife, who was following along in a car. When she realized her husband had been ejected from the basket and the passengers were being dragged across the field, she began calling instructions to the passengers via two-way radio about how to take action.
Edward Chapman was airlifted to North Memorial Medical Center with head and back injuries. He remained hopitalized on Friday. One passenger, David Wheeler Jr., 36, of Coon Rapids, was taken to nearby Queen of Peace Hospital with minor injuries and received stitches over one eye. The others were treated at the scene of the crash.
The elder Wheeler told Kare11 News that he would fly with Chapman again, if offered the chance. His son, he said, was not so willing to fly in a hot air balloon again.
The balloon is owned by Balloon Ascensions of Unlimited out of Jordan, Minnesota. Reportedly it was relatively new. Thursday's was only the fourth flight for the device.
Deputies were dispatched just before 9 p.m. to a scene just off LeSueur County Road 32 on reports that someone had fallen from the basket of a hot air balloon.
"Due to the time of night, it was starting to get dark and I guess, they were just going to land along County Road 32," said LeSueur County Sheriff Tom Doherty.
However, the pilot hit a ditch hard, causing the balloon basket to flip. The pilot was thrown from the basket into the ditch while the balloon skidded into a nearby field with the four passengers hanging on for dear life.
"The other four rode with the basket for probably about 250-300 yards into a field before coming to a rest," said Sheriff Doherty.
59-year-old passenger David Wheeler, Sr, of Coon Rapids, praised pilot Edward Chapman, 64, of Jordan and Chapman's wife, who was following along in a car. When she realized her husband had been ejected from the basket and the passengers were being dragged across the field, she began calling instructions to the passengers via two-way radio about how to take action.
Edward Chapman was airlifted to North Memorial Medical Center with head and back injuries. He remained hopitalized on Friday. One passenger, David Wheeler Jr., 36, of Coon Rapids, was taken to nearby Queen of Peace Hospital with minor injuries and received stitches over one eye. The others were treated at the scene of the crash.
The elder Wheeler told Kare11 News that he would fly with Chapman again, if offered the chance. His son, he said, was not so willing to fly in a hot air balloon again.
The balloon is owned by Balloon Ascensions of Unlimited out of Jordan, Minnesota. Reportedly it was relatively new. Thursday's was only the fourth flight for the device.