16 dead in hot air balloon crash

[Linux23]

I heard briefly on the news that the pilot had a DWI before?

 

[Kaido]

I heard briefly on the news that the pilot had a DWI before?

Yeah I saw that article...he had a DWI arrest...16 years ago. Must be a slow news day

 

[IronWing]

Yeah I saw that article...he had a DWI arrest...16 years ago. Must be a slow news day

Yeah, as much as I'm a scarlet letter sort of guy when it comes to DUI, I thought that kind of muck raking was uncalled for.

 

[Darwin333]

My take on it pretty much. I've heard about these kinds of tragedies every couple years for as long as I can remember. I don't care how great the view is, no way I'd go in one without a chute I packed myself.

Call me weird, but I don't like activities where life or death is predicated by the weather or a single operator or machine (or both). There are easier views to pursue.

Correct me if I am wrong, but I'm pretty sure a chute won't do shit for you only being 4 or 5 stories up.

 

[Darwin333]

In a hot air balloon, I think you may as well forego the reserve. In fact a rig designed for BASE jumping would be most suitable.

Of course, when you hit high tension power lines 100 feet above the ground and burst into a ball of flame, you're only hope is to jump that 100 feet to the ground or end up a crispy critter.

If no one did jump, regardless of a chute, then they simply didn't have time. Most likely do to the fuel igniting a huge fireball quicker than anyone could react. People will jump from whatever height before being burned alive. As shitty as this sounds, hopefully there was an explosion that took them out quick. Really sad deal all the way around.

 

[madoka]

No, he's arguing that it's like reverse winning the lottery. The chances are so small that it's not worth getting worried about. Way more people die in car accidents than plane crashes, but plane crashes have a bunch of people dying at once, so it's more sensational and people fear planes more.

If I learned anything from Obama, it's that if a new law, even an unconstitutional one, can save even one child, then it's worth doing.

 

[kage69]

Correct me if I am wrong, but I'm pretty sure a chute won't do shit for you only being 4 or 5 stories up.

I guess you didn't see my other post.

It depends on a lot, but it's not impossible. Here, skip to about 6:05 in this clip. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kSOwXjo6Fo

No idea what his altitude was in stories, but when he punched out he left the Mig parallel with the ground and 2 seconds later touched down. He walked away from that so in my mind shit was accomplished.

 

[Darwin333]

I guess you didn't see my other post.

It depends on a lot, but it's not impossible. Here, skip to about 6:05 in this clip. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kSOwXjo6Fo

No idea what his altitude was in stories, but when he punched out he left the Mig parallel with the ground and 2 seconds later touched down. He walked away from that so in my mind shit was accomplished.

Shit was accomplished, I agree with that. However he had a drogue gun attached to his ejection seat that literally fired the drogue out, along with the parachute since the built in altimeter saw how low he was. Normally the drogue would wait before pulling the main chute to stabilize the pilot. I'm sure the rockets strapped to his ass helped a bit too.

Don't get me wrong, I can't fault your logic. I'm sure I'd feel safer with one too but doesn't sound like it would have done dickall in this case.

 

[MrDudeMan]

i'm curious what experts think happened immediately after contact with the power lines. i don't know much about balloons, so the failure mechanism isn't immediately obvious to me.

 

[Red Squirrel]

My non expert guess is it just arced and set the baloon itself on fire, then it spread from there. Almost anything can be a conductor at half a million volts.

 

[Linux23]

My non expert guess is it just arced and set the baloon itself on fire, then it spread from there. Almost anything can be a conductor at half a million volts.

But they weren't grounded to anything. I'm no electrician but I thought you had to make ground contact before electricity can flow through something?

 

[IronWing]

But they weren't grounded to anything. I'm no electrician but I thought you had to make ground contact before electricity can flow through something?

The balloon is big enough to contact more than one power line plus a ground line.

 

[skyking]

But they weren't grounded to anything. I'm no electrician but I thought you had to make ground contact before electricity can flow through something?

With the exception of some super high voltage DC lines,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_DC_Intertie
the grid is AC and both conductors are up there in the air for you to connect.

 

[Darwin333]

i'm curious what experts think happened immediately after contact with the power lines. i don't know much about balloons, so the failure mechanism isn't immediately obvious to me.

It arced and made the fuel tank go boom.

Like I said, if people didn't jump then they weren't conscious in a fire for long at all.