Three injured after pilots had trouble landing in winds

Six balloons crashed into power lines, trees and parking lights in a 30-minute period today as winds picked up during the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. Three injuries have been reported thus far.

In one of the crashes, a pilot fell out of the gondola while the balloon crashed into a tree at the Arroyo del Oso parking lot. She was transported to Presbyterian Hospital with a broken ankle. The crashes caused power outages for about 3,200 customers, PNM officials said.

Here is a summary of the crashes:

- Copper and Interstate 40: An unidentifed balloon was trying to land in a park when it hit the ground hard. Winds picked up the balloon, throwing the pilot out of the gondola. The pilot held onto the balloon's rope and was dragged about 150 feet before the balloon hit power lines and a house. The pilot was taken to the hospital with "cactus injuries."

- Montgomery and San Mateo (pictured above): The Crew Balloon (No.731) tangled with power lines as pilot Tim Evans was trying to land in a nearby park. Two other people were aboard the Gondola, which safely landed on a sidewalk on the west side of San Mateo. No one was injured.

- San Pedro and Cutler: The balloon It's About Time crashed into a Coronado mall parking light as it was trying to land. The gondola fell about 20 feet. No one was injured. Four people were aboard, including pilot David Steidley.

- Arroyo del Oso Golf Course: Balloon No. 210 crashed into a tree after initially landing near the seventh hole. After touching down, wind blew the balloon into a tree. Pilot Donna Carlton-Vish fell about five feet out of the gondola and broke her ankle. Two other people were inside the balloon. Carlton-Vish was transported to Presbyterian Hospital.

- Broadway and Menaul: A balloon crashed into power lines. Police have yet to identify the balloon. One person suffered a sprained ankle.

- Candelaria and Tenth: Balloon No. 308 piloted by Sue Oldenburg landed hard near a strip mall near 10th and Candelaria. After the intial landing, winds carried the balloon into the nearby strip mall, where the gondola struck a wall. A window to a bingo parlor was cracked. Two other passengers were inside the gondola.

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10:20am UPDATE: The Albuquerque Fire Department is reporting that between about 9:30 and about 10:00 there were six incidents involving hot-air balloons that required assistance. No injuries were reported, according to KOB-TV.

The mishaps were attributed to a sudden uptick in winds following this morning's liftoff from Balloon Fiesta Park.

Chase crews are scrambling at a flurry of reports of hot-air balloons being entangled in power lines all around the city of Albuquerque.

The first report we got was of the Crew balloon with three passengers aboard that struck powerlines in the 4200 block of San Mateo NEsouth of Montgomery; no one was injured, according to T.J. Wilham, our reporter at the scene, who raced over to Cutler and San Pedro NE, where a balloon struck a light pole in the parking lot of Coronado Mall.

We're hearing reports from police dispatch and our photographers of similar incidents near the Arroyo del Oso Golf Course; at Tramway and Interstate 40, where one person was reportedly taken from the scene in a stretcher; and at Menaul and Broadway NE.

KOB-TV's Chopper 4 reported seeing a balloon smashed into the side of a home in a residential neighborhood east of Tramway and north of I-40 before the guy lines between the envelope and the gondola became caught up in power lines, where it remains dangling.