Passenger Says She Was Thrown From Basket And Dragged Causing Injuries

A hot air balloon company is facing a lawsuit after a pilot made a "hard landing" in February of 2014 that the plaintiff, Melanie Rodriguez of El Paso, TX, said resulted in injuries, medicals bills and lost income.

The company is Balloons Above the Valley in Napa, CA. According to the suit filed in Napa County (CA) Superior Court, the pilot, company founder Robert Barbarick, encountered "bad weather" during the flight which originated in Yolo County, CA. The suit claims that Barbarick instructed the male passengers to move to the outside of the basket and the women to get in the middle as he prepared for landing.

The Napa Valley Register reports that according to the suit, the ground crew told Barbarick not to land because they were helping other balloons get on the ground, but Barbarick landed anyway.

According to the court documents, Rodriguez alleges that “Instead of waiting for assistance, Robert Barbarick disregarded the warning and decided to land without aid in an open field causing (the balloon) to hit the ground and pitch the basket violently forward, throwing Plaintiff out onto the ground and into the way of the oncoming basket.

“The basket subsequently collided against her person, then dragged her underneath for a period of time before the balloon aircraft was able to lift the basket and the occupants back off the ground.”

Rodriguez says she sustained injuries to her neck, shoulders, arms, back, hips, legs and feet causing “great physical and mental pain and suffering.”

The suit also claims that Barbarick was unfit and incompetent to pilot the balloon, and the company should have known of the risk involved in allowing him to act as pilot in command of the aircraft.

Barbarick has over 6,800 hours as a balloon pilot and is considered one of the pioneers of Napa Valley ballooning.

Rodriguez is seeking damages to cover medical expenses and lost income past and future, according to the suit.

(Image from file. Not incident balloon)

FMI: www.napacourt.com