Steamboat Springs – A Boulder man toppled out of the basket beneath a hot-air balloon early this morning and fell 700 feet to his death.
The 54-year-old man’s identity was not being released until his family is notified, said Steamboat Springs Police Capt. Joel Rae.
“We don’t have any reason to believe there was foul play involved,” Rae said. “It is being investigated as either an accident or a suicide.”
The balloon had four other passengers and a pilot, who landed the balloon safely around 8:30 a.m. today in the southwest corner of the city near U.S. 40, Rae said. There were no other injuries.
The balloon was operated by Wild West Balloon Adventures in Steamboat, which didn’t answer its phone today. However, Wild West Balloon employee Lora Wyman told the Steamboat Springs Pilot & Today newspaper that the pilot was Ian Cox.
Wild West’s website says Cox passed a Federal Aviation Administration balloon-flight exam in 1982 and has logged more than 3,500 flights.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
