A lawyer says the family and friends of a California woman who fell 70 feet to her death when the hot air balloon she was riding in was caught in power lines have reached a $1.4 million settlement, according to a published report.
A sister of Rosemary Wooley Phillips of Oceanside filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, pilot Tom Reyes and two companies, Star Trail Inc. and Rainbow Ryders.
Greg Patton, an attorney for Phillips' partner Cheri Dias, says the $1.4 million agreement was the limit of what the fiesta was insured to cover. He says Reyes recently died.
It was not clear whether the companies contributed to the settlement. involving the October 2007 death.
A fiesta spokesperson declined to comment on the settlement but says in an email it's hoped it will help the families deal with their loss.
For more information, read the North County Times article, "Woman Settles for $1.4M in Fatal Balloon Crash."
