Reckless Pilot Crashes Hot Air Balloon Into Power Lines | Short Documentary

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I don’t have a fear of heights. I have a fear of being burned to death in a hot air balloon when the burner and propane tanks explode.

In 2015, about a year before this happened, I took my ex-wife and myself as a gift to her on this exact balloon with this pilot. I still have pics of the smiley face balloon being filled and then pics up in the wicker basket. I still lived in San Antonio at the time I heard of this accident, just freaky to know that this happened in the exact same basket and on the same balloon you were in one year earlier.

His failure to get his balloon's yearly inspection tells me his long term decision making is no better than his short term.

There's a surprising amount of cassette enthusiasts out there. Techmoan springs to mind.

I have spinal injuries, and am on medication that would impair my ability to drive. So I've given up driving, voluntarily. I really couldn't live with myself if I hurt someone.

The thing is. That they don't make good cassette players anymore

Getting into a wicker basket suspended by ropes from an airborne, un-steerable, and flammable envelope of hot gas heated by a huge, open flame fueled by pressurized propane never struck me as a good idea under ANY circumstances.

My wife had purchased a flight for us with this same company that same year as an anniversary celebration. We attempted to go on several earlier flights during the spring and summer, but they were all canceled early in the morning because of cloudy weather. I don’t recall why we didn’t try to go on this one, but turned out to be a good thing.

Some details were omitted that are important to cover. First, he was not the only pilot meeting passengers that morning, this pilot and 5 other pilots met, reviewed the weather, and the other 5 cancelled their flights because they knew those conditions would generate fog. This pilot went against more experienced pilot’s recommendations to say on the ground. Next, even though this was a 1 man operation, he was playing games with the FAA to stay in business. He transferred ownership of the balloon and the company to his mother in Florida. As far as the FAA knew, he no longer had a balloon or a ride business. His mother ran the website and the bookings for rides from Florida. Third, this pilot was seeing three different doctors an MD in Texas, an MD in Missouri, and a psychiatrist in Missouri. None of these doctors knew about each other, their recommendations, or prescriptions written. Many of the drugs in his system would have prevented him from obtaining a medical certificate if required. Even if he had a medical certificate, nothing would have stropped him from going out what he did and killing everyone in the basket. Ironically, he hit the ONLY high voltage line running through that part of Texas, had he stayed aloft and additional 10 to 15 minutes the fog would have parted and he would have been able to make a normal landing in VFR conditions. In fact, by the time emergency crews arrived weather conditions were VFR. He was not a responsible pilot or a conscientious pilot, only someone concerned about skirting the rules to make money. This man, single-handedly ruined ballooning for all of the rule abiding aviators. It doesn’t matter that he was a balloon pilot, his attitude would have been dangerous in gliders, helicopters, or airplanes.

I'm 87 and I'm glad i lived long enough to see this video. Thank you.

oh. that was odd to encounter this morning. my first boyfriend died in this. respectful job, no shade intended, just strange feeling.

Two sedatives AND a stimmy? Like, daily? Geeze, man was subjecting himself to multiple G forces

hot air balloons have always seemed shady to me, this just seals the deal

This pilot the primary rule for fun flying: It's better to be on the ground wishing you were flying than up there wishing you weren't.

FAA before: "I do not care." FAA after: "WTF BRO!"

So me, who drove non-CDL trucks and hauled cargo, had to have a DOT medical certification, but a guy who takes people up in the air in a balloon doesn't. Makes sense.

For anyone curious powerlines are still very dangerous without even having a ground due to the phase to phase voltage. For a normal 7.2kV line phase-to-phase voltage is 12,470V. So you can be electrocuted without even touching something that's grounded. This is what caused the fire. The lines they hit were transmission lines well over 100kV.

Where I live the thieves have a nasty habit of stealing hot air balloons. I don't know who would buy a stolen ballon, seems really silly.

When it got to listing his “prescription” 🤣 bloke was off his face