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Gas balloon crashed into Texas power lines while attempting to land amid gunfire, pilot says
Fox News ^ | October 13, 2023 | Brie Stimson

Posted on 10/15/2023 1:29:00 PM PDT by skyman

The pilot of a gas balloon that crashed into power lines in North Texas earlier this week said he and his co-pilot were being shot at and attempted to make an emergency landing.

"We heard more and more automatic guns. It was not one shot. It was, ‘Do, do, do, do, do, do!’" Krzystotf Zapart, who along with Pjotr Halas, were competing for the Polish national team in the Gordon Bennett Gas Balloon Race, told FOX 4 Dallas-Forth Worth.

The men's hydrogen-filled balloon burst into flames after it hit the power lines Monday, but they were saved by some good Samaritans.

"You looked in the basket and could barely see because of the flames and the smoke," Israel Alfaro, a Dallas English teacher who helped with the rescue, said. "The gentleman in the basket couldn't help us with his weight because his legs were broken. When we pulled him out, we had to drag him through some of the fire."

(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...


TOPICS:
KEYWORDS: balloons; crime; guns
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To: skyman

Ah, I see... They are foreigners (Poland). You know what Europeans hear about Americans.

He says he was worried that someone might shoot at their balloon.

Maybe they heard someone shooting at a firing range and panicked.


21 posted on 10/15/2023 2:12:15 PM PDT by Tired of Taxes
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To: Gene Eric
yeah, the kind that go: “Do, do, do, do, do, do!”

I thought those were the colored girls.

22 posted on 10/15/2023 2:13:07 PM PDT by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: skyman

There is a layer or 2 of migrants before Amarillo. The panhandle is WHACK!


23 posted on 10/15/2023 2:13:39 PM PDT by Delta 21 (If anyone is treasonous, it is those who call me such.)
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To: skyman

Could it have been firecrackers?


24 posted on 10/15/2023 2:13:46 PM PDT by ConservativeMind (Trump: Befuddling Democrats, Republicans, and the Media for the benefit of the US and all mankind.)
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To: dfwgator

These guys did take walk on the wild side.


25 posted on 10/15/2023 2:16:42 PM PDT by Army Air Corps (Four Fried Chickens and a Coke)
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To: Leaning Right

My first assumption was similar: they flew over folks who wanted to “discourage” observation of illegal activity, such as a marajuana farm, meth cook house, human trafficking operation, terrorist training camp... OK, that’s a bit overboard, but local LE should do drone surveillance of the area just in case.


26 posted on 10/15/2023 2:22:48 PM PDT by Chewbarkah
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To: skyman

That will make a great story to tell the grandkids when they recover enough to return to Poland. By then, it won’t just be bullets being fired by unseen adversaries, it will include cannonballs, maybe even Sea Monsters!


27 posted on 10/15/2023 2:28:01 PM PDT by lee martell
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To: Gene Eric

“yeah, the kind that go: “Do, do, do, do, do, do!””


I thought they went “pew, pew, pew, pew”. Or is that just for evil assault rifles with silencers?

The sound of gunfire is a usual occurrence in my neck of the woods. No one thinks anything unusual about the sound. I do take note of the time if I hear one or two shots in the wee hours of the morning, just in case it is something nefarious. But I assume it is someone shooting at a raccoon or possum getting into their trash cans unless I later hear something that makes me think differently. I have never heard anything to make me think differently.


28 posted on 10/15/2023 2:28:23 PM PDT by CFW (I will not comply!)
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To: bigbob

Mr. Wizard made it pretty obvious that hydrogen isn’t recommended.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oj-fxQtXvqs&ab_channel=OfficialMr.Wizard%27sWorldChannel


29 posted on 10/15/2023 2:29:32 PM PDT by Tom Tetroxide
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To: bigbob

Mr. Wizard made it pretty obvious that hydrogen isn’t recommended.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oj-fxQtXvqs&ab_channel=OfficialMr.Wizard%27sWorldChannel

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tiv-VNFrOQ&ab_channel=OfficialMr.Wizard%27sWorldChannel


30 posted on 10/15/2023 2:32:51 PM PDT by Tom Tetroxide
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To: skyman

Riding on balloons full of explosive gas is fun.


31 posted on 10/15/2023 2:36:05 PM PDT by dragnet2 (Diversion and evasion are tools of deceit)
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To: Gene Eric

Baby Shark Autos


32 posted on 10/15/2023 2:38:15 PM PDT by piasa (Attitude adjustments offered here free of charge)
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To: skyman

Like drunk Hispanics or rednecks.


33 posted on 10/15/2023 2:38:27 PM PDT by stinkerpot65 (Global warming is a Marxist lie. )
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To: dragnet2

What explosive gas?


34 posted on 10/15/2023 2:39:04 PM PDT by steve86 (Numquam accusatus, numquam ad curiam ibit, numquam ad carcerem™)
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To: dfwgator
> I thought those were the colored girls.

Nah, they go "doo, doo-doo, doo-doo, doo, doo-doo".

35 posted on 10/15/2023 2:39:06 PM PDT by dayglored (Strange Women Lying In Ponds Distributing Swords! Arthur Pendragon in 2024)
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To: CFW

This week the neighbors were sighting in their rifles, never gave it any thought though they were considerate enough to call and let me know what all the shooting was about, lol.


36 posted on 10/15/2023 2:41:00 PM PDT by piasa (Attitude adjustments offered here free of charge)
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To: steve86
Ok, ok, I guess flammable would be a more appropriate word for those who demand accuracy in humor.

Here you go....Riding on balloons full of highly flammable gas is fun.

37 posted on 10/15/2023 2:49:21 PM PDT by dragnet2 (Diversion and evasion are tools of deceit)
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To: skyman

We got a rule in Texas that says don’t paint Daffy Duck on the side of your “Gas balloon”.


38 posted on 10/15/2023 2:58:35 PM PDT by FlingWingFlyer (When you're in the braindead Hollowoody cult, it's impossible to think clearly, right Bobby (DeNiro))
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To: piasa

“This week the neighbors were sighting in their rifles, never gave it any thought though they were considerate enough to call and let me know what all the shooting was about, lol.”


Very considerate neighbors you have there! It is a courtesy, even in the rural country areas, to call the neighbors and let them know you are having a few friends over for target shooting so there is no reason to be alarmed. After a few years, when neighbors know each other’s habits, it is no longer necessary.

Of course, you do then have to wonder why you weren’t invited.

About fifteen or so years ago, hubby and a friend were shooting some new firearms to break them in. Apparently, someone new in the neighborhood — rural area so that could have been someone five miles from our place — called the sheriff’s department to let them know that it sounded as if a war had been started. The SO had to send a couple of deputies to respond to the call. But that is all they sent. No large response SWAT team appeared.

Luckily, hubby glanced behind him and saw the deputies as they approached and touched his friend (who was the one currently shooting) on the shoulder to let him know. They both laid down their firearms, removed their ear protection and spoke with the deputies for a few minutes.

The cops let them know about the call, engaged hubby in a nice discussion about firearms, then told them to “carry on” and departed. The left just doesn’t understand the difference in the way those calls are treated in the country versus in places such as Chicago.


39 posted on 10/15/2023 3:17:27 PM PDT by CFW (I will not comply!)
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To: CFW

Ten or twelve shots sounded this week close to 11 pm.

I never hear what is going on. Rancher shooting coyotes? Drug deal? Poachers? Domestic squabble?

Happens a few times a year. Sound carries so far in the still of the night that I have no idea how far away they are. But the reports are somewhat loud and crisp.


40 posted on 10/15/2023 3:24:01 PM PDT by ProtectOurFreedom (“Occupy your mind with good thoughts or your enemy will fill them with bad ones.” ~ Thomas More)
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