A Boulder man toppled out of a basket suspended beneath a hot-air balloon in Steamboat Springs on Tuesday morning and fell 700 feet to his death.
The 54-year-old man’s identity will not be 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,” 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 in 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. However, Wild West Balloon employee Lora Wyman told the Steamboat Pilot & Today newspaper that the pilot was Ian Cox.
Wild West’s website says Cox passed a Federal Aviation Administration exam in 1982 and has logged more than 3,500 flights.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
