Storm Blows Balloon Off Course; 2 Aboard Injured in Utah Crash
A long-range, high-altitude helium balloon launched near Disneyland Sunday night for a tour of the Los Angeles area was blown 500 miles off course and crashed near the southern Utah town of Circleville on Monday, seriously injuring the two men aboard.
Garfield County sheriff’s dispatcher Cathy Holt said the men, identified as Ron Martin, 46, of Long Beach, the balloon’s pilot, and Scott Hendricks, 30, of Chino, a passenger, suffered broken bones and were complaining of back injuries. No further details on their conditions were immediately available.
The balloon is registered to Scorpion Productions of Perris, Calif. Hajnal Crieg, who with Martin co-owns the four-passenger, 3,500-cubic-foot balloon, said Martin and Hendricks had intended only to take an aerial tour of the Los Angeles Basin.
“But a storm came in. You can’t really control a helium balloon, so they went wherever the wind takes them,” she said.
Utah Civil Air Patrol spokesman Jerry Wellman said the wreckage of the balloon was spotted Monday morning in rugged, mountainous terrain about 5 miles south of Circleville.
Members of the Garfield County and Piute County rescue teams reached the survivors at about 11 a.m.
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