Louisville couple survives hot air balloon crash near Las Vegas

During each of their visits to Las Vegas, Dr. Shawna Stenton and her husband, Tom, had usually gone on daytime excursions to momentarily get away from the casinos and glitz of the Sin City.

While on their latest trip to Vegas last week, the Louisville couple chose to take a "sunrise" hot air balloon ride out in the Nevada desert.

But what started out as a new and adventurous experience for the couple ended in a nightmare when the hot air balloon crashed, ejecting all nine people aboard.

Thankfully, no one was killed in the Sept. 12 crash that happened around 9:25 a.m. PDT near Goodsprings, Nevada, about 40 miles southwest of Las Vegas.

Related:Hot air balloon crash near Las Vegas sends seven passengers to hospital

Seven passengers, however, were taken to a hospital, with Stenton and her husband suffering some of the more serious injuries in the group.

Stenton, 43, told The Courier Journal she suffered a broken ankle and femur as well as punctured lungs.

Her 48-year-old husband broke several bones in his hand, Stenton said, and doctors have not been able to determine the reason for fluid that has built up in his leg and will not go away.

On Thursday, the couple finally returned to Louisville, but Stenton said her husband must remain in a local hospital.

The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating what caused the hot air balloon to suddenly and rapidly descend before hitting the ground.

"When we hit (the ground), the first reaction I had was it felt like a car crash," Stenton said.

Stenton said the crash happened as the balloon had been in the sky for a little over 1 hour and 45 minutes.

"I didn't know if there was any indication something was awry," she said. "But it felt very fast as we went down."

After the balloon made a hard landing, the pilot and four passengers were ejected, Stenton said.

The Louisville couple and a Finnish couple were left in the gondola of the balloon, which "righted itself and started going back up in the air at a fairly fast rate," Stenton said.

She looked to her husband, who was reaching toward several ropes.

"I asked him, 'What are you doing?' and he said, 'We have got to land this thing,'" Stenton said. "...He's always been curious about how things work and was asking the pilot questions (during the ride). I'm glad he did because the pilot pointed out which rope to pull to release air and bring us down."

Stenton said that curiosity earlier in the balloon ride from her husband helped him bring the balloon back down to the ground, albeit still at a high speed, and likely saved the group from a worse outcome.

The balloon made contact again with the desert ground and bounced along the surface for about a half-mile, according to FAA officials. Stenton, her husband and the couple from Finland were ejected as the balloon slid across the ground.

"It felt like we were in a washing machine," Stenton said. "The balloon came to a rest about 150 yards away from where my husband landed."

As she attempted to gather herself after falling out of the gondola, Stenton said she could not see the five occupants who were ejected earlier.

The Finnish couple and her husband eventually came over to her and called 911.

"I could not walk," Stenton said. "My ankle was visibly broken. We were 40 miles outside of Vegas in the desert and three miles off of any identifiable road, so we waited about an hour and 45 minutes before we got an ambulance."

They later learned the other five occupants of the hot air balloon had survived, but one woman in the group suffered a fractured vertebrae, Stenton said.

After a week in and out of a Nevada hospital, Stenton said she and her husband are glad to be home, where friends and family are available to offer support and help as Tom remains hospitalized.

Stenton, who works as the school-based decision making council coordinator for Jefferson County Public Schools, said she and her husband, who works for Irving Materials Inc., will be away from work "for quite some time."

Stenton said she has no plans to go on another hot air balloon ride. While she has never been afraid to fly before, the crash changed things a bit for her.

"It causes me to now think about things and ask, 'Is it safe to do?'" Stenton said. "I'm still hurting really bad."

Ed Komenda with the Reno Gazette Journal and Morgan Hines with USA TODAY contributed to this story.

Reach Billy Kobin at bkobin@courierjournal.com or 502-582-7030. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: courier-journal.com/subscribe.