A Texas man who fell during a weekend hot air balloon mishap in Bossier City was recovering Monday after surgery as the Federal Aviation Administration began investigating.

Rick Ashby, 54, of Longview, Texas, was listed in good condition, according to an LSU Hospital spokesman.


The 18-year pilot broke his ankles and wrists after falling between 20 and 50 feet, his family said Monday.

Ashby and an unidentified female passenger fell out of the ULTRAMAGIC SA M-56C as it crashed Sunday morning near Bass Pro Shops in Bossier City during the Centennial Hot Air Balloon Rally, an event celebrating the city's 100th birthday. The two were playing a game in which basket occupants try to drop beanbags onto targets on the ground.

After the crash, the aircraft started drifting, and Ashby grabbed a rope attached to the basket. Witnesses, including a Bossier City police officer, have given different accounts on how far he fell after the balloon pulled him into the air. It eventually landed without a pilot across Red River after hitting a light pole on Clyde Fant Parkway.

The woman had a few bruises but did not need medical attention.

The FAA is examining Ashby's credentials and background, the balloon and environmental factors, said Roland Herwig, a spokesman for the agency.

Ashby is listed with the FAA as the owner of the airship, manufactured in 2004.

Investigators also will look into the background of Ashby's passenger.

An investigator spoke Monday with the Bossier City officer who was a witness, city spokesman Mark Natale said. The Police and Fire departments are otherwise not involved.

Sunday's accident is the second locally in less than a week in which the FAA is investigating.

That agency with the National Transportation Safety Board is trying to determine what caused the helicopter crash that killed Joseph Benjamin Grammer, 36, and Jeffery Daniel Legro, 24, on Wednesday between Hosston and Vivian.

The Fairchild-Hiller 1100 went down in the woods south of Black Lake Bayou off state Highway 2. The newly purchased, refurbished chopper was en route from Century, Fla., to Grammer's flight training school near Las Vegas.

A preliminary report is expected this week, but a final determination could take six months to a year.