PROVO, Utah (AP) – The pig couldn’t fly, the cowboy got away, and the pilot’s OK.
So it went Thursday at an Independence Day festival in Utah, where officials said a pig-shaped hot-air balloon descended quickly to the ground after colliding with a Wyoming cowboy-themed entry.
Paul Warner, a festival executive, said the licensed pilot of the fallen balloon suffered minor burns to his face. He was treated at the scene and released.
The balloons were rising at a field near downtown Provo when the top of the pig entry crashed into the basket of the cowboy balloon. The collision ripped a hole in the nylon fabric of the pig balloon, and a piece of plastic caught fire as it descended.
The fire was not extensive, said Christopher Liechty, a spokesman for Bank of American Fork, which sponsored the balloon known as Seymour, its piggy bank mascot.