Passenger in hot air balloon crash rescue shares her story for first time

LONGVIEW, Texas (KLTV) - Meg Reynolds says she knew something was wrong the moment pilot Rick James told her to hold on, moments before their hot air balloon struck a tower in February.

Meg Reynolds, a lifelong balloonist, spoke about the moments leading up to the crash, the impact and what came after.

“The flight that morning was beautiful. I got some really pretty pictures. That’s how some of my friends knew I was flying that morning, because I posted some pictures on my Snapchat,” Reynolds said.

“I got involved with ballooning when I was four years old. My mom joined the Great Texas Balloon Race board in 1992. I was just her little sidekick at every balloon race in East Texas,” Reynolds said.

The morning of the crash

“A lot of people don’t know that my dad died two days before the accident happened. And so, I wanted to go out that morning and have some fun. Forget about my dad for a little while,” Reynolds said.

Reynolds had originally planned to crew from the ground and had not planned to be in the air that day. Rick James, a balloon pilot of more than 20 years, offered her a spot in his basket.

“His daughter was actually supposed to fly that morning, but she ended up not wanting to. So he asked me if I wanted to, and I am not one to turn down a balloon ride — no matter what,” Reynolds said.

“We had tried to land at two different places, our crew could not get to us fast enough because it was so windy. We were actually gonna land at the gas station,” Reynolds said.

Concern about hitting nearby power lines forced a decision to keep flying.

“And we were getting pretty close to the tower, I can remember Rick saying: We need to climb up pretty quick,” Reynolds said.

The impact

Reynolds said at around 700 feet, wind began to blow between 24 and 26 miles per hour.

“So instead of going straight up, the wind pushed us. So we were going up at an angle. When Rick told me to hold on, I knew something bad was about to happen. It was not but two minutes after that: boom we hit it,” Reynolds said.

“A large brick wall. I’ve been in a car wreck where the airbags deployed, but it was nothing like hitting that tower. Nothing,” Reynolds said, describing the moment of impact.

The crash left Reynolds with a scar on her knee. The heat from the burner singed James’ hair.

“It was so windy up there, at one point it literally felt like the basket was swinging around the tower,” Reynolds said.

Calls for help

Reynolds and James began making phone calls to those on the ground. Reynolds received one from Longview Fire Captain Ramey Blaylock.

“Talking to Captain Blaylock, was probably one of the main things that saved me up there. He kept my mind off of things and he answered all my crazy questions when he didn’t have to,” Reynolds said.

Reynolds said 20 minutes before fire rescue reached them, the cables holding the basket to the balloon began to rip.

“At that point I was convinced we were just going to drop,” Reynolds said.

When firemen reached them, Reynolds said she wanted to get out of the basket.

“I just wanted to get out of the basket. And as soon as I was out of the basket I was perfectly fine! Since Rick let me out of the basket first, I let him go down the tower first,” Reynolds said.

Returning to the site

Reynolds described feeling anxious about returning to the site for the first time since the crash.

“A bit anxious. Nobody survives a hot air balloon crash like that. You hear about survivors guilt but you don’t realize how big it is until something like that happens to yourself,” Reynolds said.

Six months to the day of the crash, Reynolds got back in the air.

“Losing my mom and my dad, I didn’t want that accident to take that away from me too,” Reynolds said.

“You see miracles happen every day, but you don’t truly see how small they sometimes are — so you miss them, until you see a big one like this. It really opens people’s eyes: miracles still do happen,” Reynolds said.

Reynolds plans to fly her first untethered flight since the crash at the annual Albuquerque Hot Air Balloon Festival. She said she plans to wear the same orange sweatshirt from February’s crash to give it a new memory.