A hot air balloon pilot fell to his death in Vermont after he got tangled in gear underneath the basket

• The pilot of a hot air balloon died Thursday after he fell to the ground in Vermont, police said.
• He wound up trapped in gear underneath the basket before he fell, police said.
• There were four passengers on board the balloon and one also fell out before the fatal tragedy.

The pilot of a passenger-filled hot air balloon died after he wound up trapped in gear underneath the basket and plunged to the ground in Vermont, police said Friday.

The victim, whose identity was not released, took off in the balloon along with four passengers from Vermont's Post Mills Airport Thursday afternoon, authorities said.

Sometime later, cops said, the balloon started to descend and briefly touched down in a field, causing one passenger to fall out when the basket tipped.

"During this sequence, the pilot became entangled in gear affixed to the balloon as it re-ascended and ended up entrapped underneath the basket, where he eventually fell to the ground from a height," Vermont State Police said.

The pilot fell to his death in a field in the town of Bradford. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Following the tragedy, the balloon continued flying north for about 1.5 miles until it got caught in a grove of trees in Piermont, New Hampshire, according to police.

There, the three passengers remaining in the balloon managed to climb out of it to safety.

None of the four hot air balloon passengers were injured in the incident.

Officials have launched an investigation into what happened.