They finally caught up to "Global Hilton" on Friday night when it snagged on trees in a muddy cow pasture near Gainesville, Texas. Pilots Dick Rutan and Dave Melton survived their scary parachute jump from the balloon, which began leaking helium about 40 minutes after a pre-dawn takeoff from Albuquerque, but not without pain. Rutan landed face-first in a cactus and Melton collided with a cattleguard and dislocated his hip, ankle and finger. Rutan said at a press conference several hours later that he was still picking thorns from his face. Melton was in serious but stable condition in an Albuquerque hospital. The wild adventure began amid glistening lights and applauding spectators when the Global Hilton took off from the New Mexico desert on a voyage to become the first to fly a balloon nonstop around the world. The trip was supposed to last two weeks, but ended in about three hours. The helium leak diminished the balloon`s ability to stay at altitudes of around six miles (10 km). Rutan said he and Melton might have been able to pilot the balloon back to earth but jumped because they feared that propane-filled tanks ringing the crew capsule might explode. But the pilotless balloon danced across the rugged U.S. Southwest for nine hours before it was trapped by Texas police. The cool night air caused the balloon to contract and finally brought it down.