Hot Air Balloon Crashes at Train Station in Grafton

Photo: Maria Boeckeler took this shot of a balloon going over her Northborough neighborhood Tuesday morning

They were trying to land an aircraft; not take a train.

Seven people were unharmed when their hot air balloon crashed in Grafton Tuesday morning.

Grafton police got a call at 8:04 a.m. for a report of an unintended hot air balloon landing at the MBTA Commuter Rail station located on Pine Street. The Grafton Fire Department and MedStar Ambulance Service also responded to the scene.

Pilot Derald Young of Dixfeld, ME, and six passengers were aboard the balloon when it crashed after a flight that launched from a property in Shrewsbury earlier in the morning “under favorable conditions.”

The pilot told police that sometime during the flight the wind conditions changed, which forced the landing. The pilot tried to guide the balloon to an open field at Tufts University, but ultimately landed in a parking lot located about 1,000 yards northwest of Tufts.

During the balloon’s descent, it pulled an overhead guide wire that stretched between two light support poles. That caused the pole, a light and the guide wire to topple. As a result, three cars parked in the area sustained minor damage.

The balloon is owned and operated by Damn Yankee Balloons, a company located in Dixfield, ME. This event remains under investigation by the MBTA Police Department.

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