Salisbury, Connecticut – September 1, 1913

 

     On September 1, 1913, aeronaut Jack Crosby, 35, was giving a balloon exhibition at a fair in Salisbury, Connecticut.  Part of his act involved him to hang by his teeth while suspended from his balloon.   As he was performing about 75 feet in the air before a crowd of about 4,000 people, his balloon suddenly began to collapse, and as it fell it struck a telephone pole.  The impact knocked Crosby loose and he fell to the ground and received critical injuries.  The half inflated balloon then came down upon several spectators injuring some of them. 

     Crosby was transported to the hospital in Winsted. 

     Source:

     Hartford Courant, (Conn.), “Balloonist Falls At Salisbury Fair”, September 2, 1912