Three Other Women Injured In Balloon Accident Named as Plaintiffs

The sister of a woman who fell to her death during the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta earlier this month filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the balloon pilot, his employers and the fiesta.

The lawsuit, accuses the defendants of being reckless and causing the October 8 incident that led to the death of Rosemary Wooley Phillips, 60, who was a resident of Oceanside, CA at the time of her death.

Three of Phillips' friends Sheryl Diaz, 60; Susan Simpson, 57; and Doris Currier, 52. who were also in the balloon and were injured during the same incident are plaintiffs in the case. Phillips sister's attorney declined to comment Friday, according to the Associated Press.

Heavenly Ride, piloted by Tom Reyes, snagged a utility line that morning near Interstate 25 (I-25) with all of the women on board. The pilot threw down a tether to a pickup truck on the ground in an apparent attempt to reel the balloon down and free it, State Police said at the time, as reported in ANN.

The tether broke and the balloon suddenly shot up, witnesses said, causing Phillips to fall out.

The balloon, meanwhile, drifted across I-25. It crash-landed in a vacant lot used by other balloons as a landing site, injuring the other passengers. Two of the women had broken legs and the third had minor bumps and bruises.

Witnesses reported that Phillips was waving her arms, and screaming as she fell.

According to reports paramedics on the scene tried to revive her but she was pronounced dead a short time later at University of New Mexico Hospital.

Named in the lawsuit as defendants are the balloon fiesta; pilot Reyes of Sandia Park, NM who has been described as a longtime veteran of hot-air ballooning; his employer, Star Trail Inc.; and Rainbow Ryders, the company Reyes was contracting with to provide balloons flights during the fiesta.

The women had booked the flight with Rainbow Ryders, who have been in business in Albuquerque for 24 without an accident.

The lawsuit states: ". . . the defendants are directly liable for their intentional, reckless and negligent acts." Winds on the morning of the crash were light enough that many balloons launched, but speeds increased in velocity soon after.

Balloon fiesta spokeswoman Kathie Leyendecker had no knowledge of the lawsuit, and would not comment  Star Trail Inc. officials were also unaware of the filing but noted that the accident was still under investigation by federal officials.

Phillips was well known as a former Alaskan who had lived in Nome and Wasilla. Phillips was known as an adventurous woman who was a dog musher and had flown the Iditarod Sled Dog Race Trail, from Anchorage to Nome several times.

Phillips traveled the 1,149 mile Iditarod Trail by snow machine one year to photograph dog teams competing in the sled dog race. She later became the race's executive director during the early 1980s.

FMI: www.rainbowryders.com/, www.balloonfiesta.com/