funny Aussie movie
Posted on 08/25/2007 10:03:52 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
VANCOUVER, British Columbia - A hot air balloon caught fire over western Canada, forcing screaming passengers to leap to the ground, some with their clothes in flames, witnesses said. Two people died and 11 were seriously injured, police said Saturday.
There were 12 passengers and a pilot on board when the balloon crashed Friday evening in a recreational vehicle park in Surrey, British Columbia, a suburb of Vancouver, police and witnesses said.
All but two of the people on the balloon were initially located and taken to area hospitals with serious but non-life threatening injuries, police said. Royal Canadian Mounted Police Sgt. Roger Morrow told Canadian television Saturday the two dead were the ones who were initially missing but did not give any further details.
Witnesses said the balloon caught fire shortly after takeoff and passengers jumped out almost immediately. It then exploded in a fireball and shot up into the air, they said. Shortly after, the burning balloon plunged to ground, leaving a tail of thick black smoke in its wake.
"The thing went up about 400 feet in the air at which point it melted enough of the balloon — it collapsed," said Don Randall, a resident of the trailer park who took pictures of the scene. "The basket was basically a fireball. It just dropped like a stone," he added.
"I'm just thinking, 'Oh geez, I hope there's nobody in that thing. It's basically a burning death up there,'" he said.
Smoke could be seen billowing from the crash site from miles away.
The cause of the accident was not immediately known. Weather conditions were clear at the time of the sunset flight.
"People were screaming and trying to get out," Frank Hersey said Friday night near a grassy field where several of the injured were being attended to by ambulance crews.
Perry Kendall said he saw what looked like something out of a movie.
"It was horrifying," said a shaken Kendall. "Just looking at people screaming and jumping out of there. Some of them, I think, had fire on their clothes. It was just awful."
Witnesses also said propane tanks from the balloon shot off and landed on the Hazelmere RV park below, setting fire to three trailers and several vehicles. No one was reported hurt in those blazes.
Betty Nicholson, a spokeswoman for the Ambulances services, said they took 12 people to a hospital and that three had serious but non-life-threatening injuries.
Nicholson said the more seriously injured have burns and internal bleeding. She was told most of them jumped out before the balloon was engulfed in flames.
Randall said at least two vehicles were damaged along with the RVs. He said he ran to his RV and grabbed a small fire extinguisher, but it proved of little use.
The hot-air balloon, which CTV reported was operated by Fantasy Balloons Charters based in Langley, British Columbia, was one of several balloons in flight at the time.
Company spokesman John K. George said he does not know why the balloon caught fire shortly after takeoff.
"The company deeply regrets this evening's incident and all injuries associated with it (and) inconvenience to those people being displaced," George said.
The Transportation Safety Board is investigating.
A similar incident occurred earlier this month in the central Canadian province of Manitoba, Manitoba, where 12 people were injured.
Are there any hobby class balloonists who fly helium-filled balloons, or is it too expensive or impractical?
funny Aussie movie
I’m OK if I feel secure. I don’t mind being near windows. When I went to the Grand Canyon, I could stand *near* the edge and be OK. But if what I’m on moves AT ALL, like a ladder or scaffolding, forget it!
I’m not so great on roof tops except when we used to have to shovel off our porch roof. It was only about a 6 foot drop into about a 6 foot pile of soft snow. I could live with that.
He is the one next to my flag balloon.
He comes to events for expenses only. The event needs to pay for his helium, room and board. I think he may get travel expenses too but I'm not sure.
He is a really nice guy. I'll try to find his web site again.
For him to set up, it takes several hours before he can take off.
We had one land right about 30 yeards behind the house 3 or 4 years ago...I know he did NOT want to end up here near the mountains (see the cockatiel pic on my page for a general idea). They prefer to go up and down and stay pretty close to where they left from, I assume; and we're better than 10 miles from Bermuda Dunes airport.
Actually, that is pretty uncommon. It may look like they didn't want to go there, but unless you talk directly to the pilot, you never know. It is more common for someone to call the fire dept and report a crash of a balloon because in their mind, any balloon that isn't landing at an airport is obviously crashing. ;-)
I have a friend that has about 50 trips over the Swiss Alps in a balloon. So, mountain flying does happen, you just need to be well equipped and aware of rotors.
Are there any hobby class balloonists who fly helium-filled balloons, or is it too expensive or impractical?
There were a couple of guys flying gas balloons here in New England. The helium cost was over a thousand dollars per flight (for a two person balloon), and the handling of the balloon was a lot trickier than a hot air balloon. As far as I could tell the gas balloon was a lot less maneuverable than a hot air balloon.
Has the FAA grounded hot air balloons this weekend? There is a local festival today that normally ends with a hot air balloon buck chase on a lake with the pilots and passenger trying to drop a ball into a floating inner tube. I just drove past the festival and not a hot air balloon in sight.
What is your weather like? If it is too windy, balloons won’t fly. Or, the direction could be wrong to get to the lake.
Ping!
Proof once again Columbus Ohio has a top notch library system. (They have EVERYTHING!)
The weather was ideal. A few high clouds and the wind was less than 3 mph. This is the 18th year of the festival and the first time they did not fly without severe weather in the area.
Ping.
Hmmmm.. Ok. My next question is where are you? Nothing specific, but just a general area.
2nd question. Does the festival have a static launch point or can it be a ‘fly in’?
3rd question. Have local pilots ticked off land owners in the area?
4th question. Did the President or Vice President come anywhere near the area today?
That shuts balloonists down rapidly.
2nd question. Does the festival have a static launch point or can it be a ‘fly in’? They can pick their launch points.
3rd question. Have local pilots ticked off land owners in the area? Not that I am aware of. The local FBO at the airport is one of the balloon pilots, so relations here are good.
4th question. Did the President or Vice President come anywhere near the area today? Nope.
“Have you ever dreamed of being carried into the sky by a giant bouquet of colorful toy balloons?”
Uh no. No I haven’t.
Seen this on the news this morn. It’s just awful :(
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