Hot air balloon crash

[Digga]

Robatr0n said:

By some extremely weird coincidence, when we were checking all our limbs were still intact a van drove pulled into the road and skidded to a stop. A fairly elderly couple hopped out and said "Hey, is everyone okay?! We're a couple of Hot Air Balloon experts and saw you were in big trouble!".

They helped us pack the balloon and basket up and then got on the two way radio to guid the support van to our location.

All in all, a very weird experience.

I think the words 'hot air balloon' and 'expert' are oxymorons. It's got a lot to do with luck.

We had a Nissan Patrol following us and each time we landed/crashed, after packing the wreckage onto the trailer, enjoyed the most fantastic picnics.

Have to say though, my pic only shows part of the bridge peril - you need to look at the map posts on my earlier Googlemaps link to see what a comedian our pilot was.

[JuniorD]

In my experience flying in a hot air balloon is interesting for the first 15 minutes and the last 5 mins.

[rpguk]

I took a balloon ride over Luxor just last week and I was pretty apprehensive as I don't trust the things. However for about £30 including pickup/return/tea and in such an amazing place I thought why not? I left still not liking balloons much but happy I'd ticked it off the list.

One of the reports I read said that there was supposed to be a limit of 8 balloons in the air since another crash but I counted 15 at one point so that rule clearly wasn't been followed.

Anyway, I think it'll take a lot of persuading to get me in one again.

[anonymous-user]

mrmr96 said:

el stovey said:

mrmr96 said:

el stovey said:

Commercial aviation and airline operations in the UK are much more regulated than ballooning is, god knows what it's like in Egypt. UK Training checking and safety standards in ballooning are vastly inferior to those in any airline.

I've got professional ballooning buddies who'd disagree with you there.

In what way do you think the "UK Training checking and safety standards in ballooning are vastly inferior to those in any airline"?

As a Balloon pilot how often are you assessed and examined what sort of recurrent training do you receive? Who is maintaining and testing your equipment, how are they trained and assessed, how are they regulated?

You made the assertion, you provide your facts please.

OK , i'm not sure how I can make it much clearer for you but, pilots/engineers in commercial airlines are regulated and tested and trained much more and to a much higher standard than ballon pilots and 'engineers'.

An airline pilot has simulator assessments every six months a line check every year and all manor of recurrent training plus a class 1 medical (balloon pilots only require a class 2 medical).

Edited by el stovey on Tuesday 26th February 15:00

[Du1point8]

Daily mail has video now of it going up in flames... not nice.

[eharding]

el stovey said:

(balloon pilots only require a class 2 medical).

They also get upset if you ask them to fly an Overhead Join, for some reason. I mean, how difficult can it be? Lightweights, the lot of them.

[TTmonkey]

Interesting that the pilot left the balloon whilst it as very near to the ground. Cant blame him, but just getting off at that height probably condemned every one else to death, as the balloon would have risen quickly after that.


Saw the video. Total utter nightmare situation for those poor souls.

[Puggit]

TTmonkey said:

Interesting that the pilot left the balloon whilst it as very near to the ground. Cant blame him, but just getting off at that height probably condemned every one else to death, as the balloon would have risen quickly after that.

Apparently the surviving Brit also leapt with him.

[rpguk]

TTmonkey said:

Interesting that the pilot left the balloon whilst it as very near to the ground. Cant blame him, but just getting off at that height probably condemned every one else to death, as the balloon would have risen quickly after that.

I saw that and thought the same but then he would have been standing surrounded by the gas bottles and apparently has 70% burns so I think it was probably quite a gut reaction to jump away from the flames rather then a measured decision

[CharlieCrocodile]

Puggit said:

Apparently the surviving Brit also leapt with him.

And left his wife in the basket!

[GadgeS3C]

News sites are reporting that a "landing rope is reported to have got caught around a helium gas tube and severed it, after which a fire erupted".

Is this just crap journalism as I didn't think hot air balloons used helium?

Can't quite see a helium fire erupting either.

[TTmonkey]

GadgeS3C said:

News sites are reporting that a "landing rope is reported to have got caught around a helium gas tube and severed it, after which a fire erupted".

Is this just crap journalism as I didn't think hot air balloons used helium?

Can't quite see a helium fire erupting either.

Crap journalism. Ignore it and move on.

[TTmonkey]

rpguk said:

TTmonkey said:

Interesting that the pilot left the balloon whilst it as very near to the ground. Cant blame him, but just getting off at that height probably condemned every one else to death, as the balloon would have risen quickly after that.

I saw that and thought the same but then he would have been standing surrounded by the gas bottles and apparently has 70% burns so I think it was probably quite a gut reaction to jump away from the flames rather then a measured decision

yeah I know, he was by this time a victim, not a pilot. 70% burns - he'll probably die anyway.

[Eric Mc]

TTmonkey said:

GadgeS3C said:

News sites are reporting that a "landing rope is reported to have got caught around a helium gas tube and severed it, after which a fire erupted".

Is this just crap journalism as I didn't think hot air balloons used helium?

Can't quite see a helium fire erupting either.

Crap journalism. Ignore it and move on.

The piece about the rope is probably correct. The piece about "helium" is obviously nonsense and typical of ignoramus style reporting so common these days.

[GadgeS3C]

Eric Mc said:

TTmonkey said:

GadgeS3C said:

News sites are reporting that a "landing rope is reported to have got caught around a helium gas tube and severed it, after which a fire erupted".

Is this just crap journalism as I didn't think hot air balloons used helium?

Can't quite see a helium fire erupting either.

Crap journalism. Ignore it and move on.

The piece about the rope is probably correct. The piece about "helium" is obviously nonsense and typical of ignoramus style reporting so common these days.

That's what I thought but just wondered if I'd missed anything (obviously not the invention of flammable helium!) but a bit of googling did turn up rozière balloons which combine helium and hot air for lift.

Not that I'd expect an expensive solution being used for tourists in Egypt.

Edited by GadgeS3C on Wednesday 27th February 12:14

[Puggit]

The Daily Mail have even published a picture of the home of the deceased (although they are slacking as no value was mentioned).

[anonymous-user]

So many reasons on this thread as to why I do not buy newspapers any more.

[s3fella]

If the helium tank pipe was severed, the plummet to earth would have sounded like an Alvin and the Chipmunks movie.

[Puggit]

s3fella said:

If the helium tank pipe was severed, the plummet to earth would have sounded like an Alvin and the Chipmunks movie.

If a helium tank pipe had severed, the balloon would have filled with lighter-than-air gas and not plummeted

[Evoluzione]

Balloon rides are risky wherever you take one, but having been to Egypt a few times I can tell you their attitude to safety is nothing like ours and I'm not surprised this has happened. My thoughts go out to the dead and their friends & families, what a terrible way to go.