Balloon accident kills pilot

BRADFORD—The longtime owner of the Post Mills Airport died last week after a hot air balloon accident over Bradford.
Brian Boland, 72, was piloting a balloon with four passengers that took off from the airport during the late afternoon of July 15, according to Vermont State Police.
At approximately 7:45 p.m., after traveling northeast from their airport, the balloon descended. It briefly touched down on the ground, tipping the basket, and forcing one of the passengers to fall out. Boland, meanwhile, got entangled in equipment affixed to the basket. When the balloon floated back into the air, Boland was trapped underneath the basket. He eventually fell into a field near the Bradford Regional Community Center on the Lower Plain. He was pronounced dead at the scene.