Ryanair Pilot killed in hot air balloon accident.

[OneHungLow]

Seems there was a catastrophic failure, either fire or fabric failure leading to a rapid descent into a copse.


https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... 000ft.html

I have always been wary of hot air balloons, people standing in a wicker basket, propane gas bottles in the basket, and the equivalent of a flame thrower overhead, in an aircaft that has very limited lateral control. I mean what could go wrong?

[tango15]

Last year we were working at Santa Pod Raceway, not far north of Bedford. It's a former USAF base on the top of a hill, as all good airfields are. One Sunday morning at about 0730, we watched about six hot air balloons launch from somewhere near Northampton, and head towards Bedford - possibly Cardington. One balloon seemed to be coming closer and closer and I remarked on this to my colleagues. Sure enough, it continued to head to the open fields, where we normally park the cars, so we called control to let them know. Sure enough, despite hearing the burners going like mad, it landed in the field in front of us, and security went to check. It turned out it was a Virgin hot air balloon, with about a dozen people in the wicker basket - aka gondola. Knowing my background, they sent me to deal with the pilot, who was very tight-lipped. They released the passengers and quickly folded up the envelope. The passengers were taken to a picnic area with tables, and a Fortnum and Masons hamper was produced. I was told that a vehicle and trailer would be arriving to collect everything, which it did about an hour later. The passengers were taken away by several taxis and we heard no more about it. I did ask control if they were going to send an invoice for the landing fee, but they said they would let them off this once

One of the colleagues said that these flights are expensive - up to £120 a trip, he said. You wouldn't get me up in one if you paid me twice that much!

[OneHungLow]

Only once ever travelled as "ballast" in a hot air balloon, on a game farm in Namibia, it was a wonderful way to see, but not intrude upon the animals below, and it was initially very tranquil and quiet up there, but things became rather fraught as the balloon seemed inexorably drawn to the only high voltage power line in the area, as we flew overhead it with some 50 feet to spare before settling down just yards before the barbed wire fence that also seemed to appear out of nowhere as well.

Seems that the poor chap killed in this accident was a well known and very experienced balloon pilot who had "built" or fabricated his own balloon. It will be interesting to see if that was a factor in this sad case.

[barkingmad]

O H L sez:—-“Seems that the poor chap killed in this accident was a well known and very experienced balloon pilot who had "built" or fabricated his own balloon. It will be interesting to see if that was a factor in this sad case“.

Sounds similar to the Titan Titanic expedition circumstances, but Homo sapiens has always had a penchant for these activities.

A bit like that story about the jet propelled car in the USA which allegedly took off and smashed into a cliff side but reports said the radio was still playing an appropriate tune for the accident.

I’ve never known any dolphins or porpoises being taken to intensive care for accidents incurred whilst ski-ing, and are they not classified as next to upright hominids in the intelligence and behaviour stakes?

[OneHungLow]

I’ve never known any dolphins or porpoises being taken to intensive care for accidents incurred whilst ski-ing, and are they not classified as next to upright hominids in the intelligence and behaviour stakes?

Ah, yes, as Douglas Adams noted "So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish!"

[reddo]

When we were in Egypt on a holiday cruise, we stopped off at Luxor. There were dawn balloon rides over the Valley of the Kings. Our guide said he would only recommend one company, if there were no seats, we weren't going. It seems that there are a few too many balloon accidents in Egypt for the guide's liking. No seats with this company so we had a sleep in. Result.