STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colo. -- A Boulder, Colo., man was killed Tuesday when he plunged 700 feet to the ground from a hot air balloon over Steamboat Springs.

The identity of the man, 54, was not immediately released and his family was being notified.

Police said they were called to the Steamboat Springs Christian Center at 8:30 a.m. where they found the man dead in an open field behind the center, according to the Steamboat Springs Pilot newspaper.

The operators of Wild West Balloon Adventures said the man sat on the edge of the basket, leaned back, and let himself go.

The man had been in the balloon about 30 minutes when he went over the side.

"It was a terrible situation," said Lora Wyman, a spokeswoman for the balloon company. "There was little anybody could do, once he decided that was what he was going to do."

In addition to the balloon operator and the Boulder man, four other passengers were on the flight: two girls from Missouri, ages 15 and 16, and a boyfriend and girlfriend from Massachusetts, both 22.