What happened
On August 11, 2013, at approximately 0730 eastern daylight time, a fatal accident occurred near Mont-St-Grégoire, Québec, Canada, involving a ground-support operation for a balloon. A member of the balloon ground-support team fell approximately 100 feet to the ground, resulting in 1 fatality.
The aircraft involved, an Aerostar International Inc. S-55A with registration N25QL, was not damaged in the incident. The balloon had departed near Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Québec, at about 0650 under day visual meteorological conditions. The pilot and passenger on board the aircraft were not injured. The balloon was operated by a commercial pilot.