The news is reporting a hot air balloon that caught fire and crashed in Virginia - reports are sketchy and they have not yet located the wreckage, but it appears the balloon brushed a power line and there are photos and video of it on fire and going down.
Serious, serious* shudder*. Every time I hear about an incident like this, I can’t help but think there are few worse ways to go - falling, next to propane tanks, and having 100+ pounds of burning nylon land on top of you. The very stuff of nightmares.
It’s the “on fire” part that really gets me with these sorts of accidents. Forget the burning nylon, burning ME is something my mind shies away from. Sure, yeah, falling to your death is pretty awful but being on fire scares me worse than gravity and a sudden stop.
I’ve taken a hot air balloon ride. They wonderful, lovely, etc. I’d do it again. I also listen carefully to the safety briefing prior to lift off and have no problems asking questions. Even so, I’m cognizant there is a certain inherent risk to leaving the ground no matter how you go about it.
It’s the basket that caught fire after striking power lines. I recall something about power lines being the most common cause of hot air balloon accidents.
Every try to seal the end of a cut backpack strap with a lighter… and have it flick a hot glob onto your hand or arm? Having hundreds of square feet of burning, melting such stuff land all over you after possibly surviving the impact - just the thought gives me the willies.
It does appear the gondola was what was burning, and fell free from the envelope. Still awful.
I quite disagree. While extremely painful it is all going to be over in 5 minutes or so. Contrast cancer where you can suffer for months or years.
I don’t quite understand how bumping into a power line causes a fire. Could someone clarify? What type materials are we talking about here…? Wouldn’t most of the materials be insulators rather than conductors…?
PS. What are the legal consequences? Is the site holding the event going to be sued for not providing warning about the power lines?
I don’t know the rules for balloonists, but I know pilots are supposed to see and avoid, as well as have the proper charts for the area they’ll be crossing. I don’t think the folks running the event would be liable. When you’re the pilot, you’re in charge and you’re supposed to know what you’re doing and where you’re doing it.
As for power lines - they’re bare wires, and if the gondola got across 2 lines or a line and a tower, current would flow and a fire would start. At least that’s my understanding.
Yes, and on a balloon flight you’re in the gondola… which at that point would be burning. There were also reports of “explosions” which would seem to indicate the propane tanks blew. Those are pretty darn close to you, either in the gondola (which is burning, remember?) or rigged just above your head near the burner. Oh, hey, you’re standing in a flaming basket, the gas tanks are exploding…
Also, the flaming envelope, once detracted from the burning gondola, will continue rising for a bit, being full of hot air and suddenly relieved of weight, and any melting gobs will land well away from where you splat.
Not very. Generally, 20 feet is starting to get reliably lethal and anything higher is even more likely to kill you.
Yes, I know people have survived falls from higher, but it’s pretty darn unlikely. They typically fall onto something that breaks their fall rather than bringing them to a sudden full stop.
Burning is the worst death I can imagine. I’ve seen those clips of people jumping out of the twin towers, and although heights are also a major phobia of mine, I’d rather jump than burn.
I wonder if those in the gondola had a chance to jump, although it would mean certain death, or were they instantly surrounded by flame. On second thought, I don’t want to know.
I once heard someone say that the WTC jumpers had committed the sin of suicide, and couldn’t be forgiven. I couldn’t reply then, I was so shocked at such a callous attitude. I discussed it with my congregation’s priest, and he said that such an act was certainly NOT suicide, but choosing how you would die, and that God would never condemn those jumpers.
I’ve been flying with my father since the sport was in its infancy in the very early 80s.
There are two kinds of hot air balloon pilots: those who have hit power lines, and those who will.
The most common reaction for a pilot who finds himself at eye level with a set of wires is to hit the burner and try to hop over them. That’s how situations like the one in the OP often arise. It is much safer to pull on the vent and take the hit with the envelope. My father once draped his across a set of low tension wires, and only put about a 6-inch burn mark in the nylon.
I’ve seen the wires used to connect the basket to the envelope completely severed by power lines as though they came into contact with a hot knife. I’ve heard of propane tanks exploding, but never seen that first hand, thank god.
