A hot air balloon crashed into a train in Burlington; three people were injured
A hot air balloon on Wednesday night crashed into a train in Burlington, leaving three people injured.
In a news release, Burlington Police said the collision happened around 8:15 p.m. in the 400 block of Calumet Street. The balloon struck a northbound Canadian National train. The occupants of the hot air balloon, three adults, suffered injuries in the crash; 2 of them were flown to Froedtert Hospital by Flight for Life. The third person was taken to Froedtert by ambulance. No other injuries were reported.
Police said Thursday that all three adults had been released from the hospital and are recovering at home. The passenger list for the flight includes:
The pilot, Jimmy Winder (62) of Bristol, Wisconsin
Passenger Nikolay Veltchev (37) of Barrington, Illinois
Passenger Elena Petrova (36) of Arlington Heights, Illinois
Winder told police that while attempting to land the hot air balloon, the gondola touched down and the balloon became entangled with the train.
The Burlington Police Department is conducting a collaborative investigation with members from The National Traffic Safety Board, Federal Aviation Administration, Canadian National, and the Wisconsin State Patrol to determine what caused the collision.
Anyone who may have additional information on the crash is encouraged to contact the Burlington Police Department’s Detective Bureau at 262-342-1104 or via email at rjones@burlington-wi.gov, referencing police report #22-5105.
Drake Bentley of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report.
Contact Steve Martinez at steve.martinez@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter at @stjmartinez.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Hot air balloon crashes into train in Burlington, injuring 3 people
