Stephen Lachendro of Butler County loved flying hot air balloons.

"He probably flew every chance he got," said Greg Miller, president of the Northeast Ohio Balloon Pilots Association.

And Mr. Lachendro, who lived west of Butler, was known as a safe pilot. "It was always safety comes first, know your surroundings and the situation that's going on and be prepared for anything," said Mr. Miller, who was trained by Mr. Lachendro.

So with experience and a safe record, it was shocking to those who knew him that Mr. Lachendro died in a balloon accident at the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta on Friday.

Mr. Lachendro, 49, was with Keith Sproul, 49, of North Brunswick, N.J., in Mr. Sproul's balloon Wings of Wind, a tetrahedron-shaped balloon, when it hit power lines and caught fire, according to authorities.

New Mexico state police said Mr. Lachendro was the co-pilot and Mr. Sproul was the pilot.

According to state police, the balloon for an unknown reason traveled toward the power lines, which severed the balloon's fuel line on contact. The balloon quickly became engulfed in flames.

Mr. Sproul fell about 60 feet and was flown to UNM Hospital, where he was in critical condition last night. Mr. Lachendro fell about 45 feet from the balloon after Mr. Sproul and was pronounced dead at the scene, according to police.

The balloon continued flying and landed about 14 miles away, police said. No one was injured at the landing site.

The accident is under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board.

The balloon the pair was flying was made by Mr. Sproul in 2004, according to the hot air balloon Web site, www.skychariot.com/tetrahedron.

It had three triangular faces -- each side more than 80 feet long -- and a triangular top. Its colors and design were based on Inca pottery.

The Balloon Fiesta, which runs from Oct. 4 through today, had 621 registered balloons, said Kathie Leyendecker, event spokeswoman.

On Friday morning, about 600 of them participated in a mass ascension in waves of three groups and traveled as the winds took them.

About the time of the accident, Ms. Leyendecker said, the Wings of Wind was above Rancho Rio, roughly three miles from the 72-acre grass park where the balloons were launched.

She said the winds were picking up in the Rancho Rio area, and two other balloons experienced hard landings in the same general area. In one case, the pilot was ejected and a rip cord was wrapped around the neck of a passenger. The pilot was fine, but the passenger was treated and released at a hospital, she said.

There were no injuries in the other incident, she said.

She said that Mr. Lachendro and Mr. Sproul were registered to pilot the balloon and was uncertain which was piloting it at the time. She thinks they likely were coming in to land.

The Balloon Fiesta, now in its 37th year, has had fatalities before, mostly from balloons hitting power lines, including one last year.

Four fatalities were recorded in 1982 and other deaths took place in 1990, 1993 and 1998.

Joe Zvada, vice president of the Northeast Ohio club, has been to the fiesta several times.

"It's just like anywhere. It's just building up. The city is growing, and more people are moving in," he said. "With that comes more building and less landing sites."

Mr. Zvada said there are only a few thousand balloon pilots in the United States, making it a close community.

"Part of ballooning is meeting people and talking with people and making friendships you wouldn't have otherwise. Steve did a lot of traveling. That's how I met him. I never saw his house. Friends were formed on the road and in the air," Mr. Zvada, of Wadsworth, Ohio, said.

Mr. Zvada, who has flown with Mr. Lachendro, said he thinks his friend enjoyed what most balloonists enjoy about flying, "leaving the ground and kinda leaving all your troubles behind and looking back at the world and seeing the beauty that's really there."

He described Mr. Lachendro as a "great pilot and one you didn't have to worry about if you were flying around him. He was a pilot who always had safety in mind."

Mr. Miller described Mr. Lachendro as a kind man.

"Steve was 6-3, 6-4 maybe, but he was a gentle giant. He looked intimidating but was always willing to give you a helping hand or help young pilots learn how to do things," he said.

Mr. Miller said Mr. Lachendro was an FAA-certified balloon pilot with more than 500 hours of flying experience. He had two of his own balloons and a small remote control model balloon to fly when it was too windy for the full one.

Mr. Miller said Mr. Lachendro is survived by his wife, Carrie; two sons, Chris and Joe; and a daughter, Amanda.

He served in the Air Force reserves in Youngstown and had an administrative civilian job, according to the Albuquerque (N.M.) Journal. The station could not be reached for confirmation yesterday.