Hot Air Balloon Worker Falls To His Death

A worker for a hot air balloon company was carried aloft holding onto the aircraft’s basket and fell to his death in New York state, police said on Saturday. Ryan Almeter, 34, of Bliss, New York, was helping passengers in the town of Nunda to climb out of the hot air balloon’s basket by holding it down on Friday when a gust of wind caught the craft, sending it and Almeter into the air, state trooper Mark O’Donnell said in a phone interview. It was not immediately clear why Almeter did not let go soon after the balloon started ascending, but he may have been trying to climb into the basket, O’Donnell said.