Firefighters in Longview, Texas, performed a high-level rescue of two people in a hot air balloon that was snared by a 920-foot communications tower. The firefighters climbed almost to the top of the structure to rig up rescue harnesses and bring the two occupants from the basket to the relative safety of the tower itself. The incident occurred about 8:15 a.m. on Saturday and the drama ensued for several hours. High winds added to the challenge for the firefighters. They deployed their drone to catch part of the rescue. No one was hurt in the entire incident.
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Wow! An A+++ for the fireman. Scared me watching.
Outstanding rescue, and I am relieved the balloon occupants were not hurt.
The bigger safety point is the obstacle environment. The Memphis sectional alone shows about 65 towers (obstructions) within the TRSA, along with wires at low-altitude, with little margin for drift error. And the risk is not just for balloons.
Same risk applies to helicopters, ultralights, student pilots, disoriented pilots trying to stay low and get oriented, and the drone band near the surface. Different aircraft, same trap: low altitude, workload, distraction, and very little room around towers and possible guy wires.
No fault call here. Just a plain observation: in an obstruction-rich area like this, low-altitude operations can go bad fast.
LONGVIEW TRSA
Well at least they had cell coverage!
Serious respect for the rescuers. That is something that you probably don’t train for often.
The only way that I prefer to be 800 feet AGL is in the cabin of my Cessna!
Kudos to the firefighters involved! and I was a First Responder/Firefighter/Policeman.
I got nervous today on my 20′ ladder putting up lights in my hangar.
I hear you, Jim!!!
Netflix movie: The Fall
Good day to be wearing your brown pants.
ya gotta be some kind of special stupid to want to use a blowtorch and a nylon bag to take to the skies. At the whim of a breeze of air with a 150 foot sail that you can’t steer or control
There are a lot of people that feel the same way about flying in anything other than an airliner with at least two turbofans. To them, ANYTHING with propellers (even turbojets) is small and dangerous.
…meant to say “ANYTHING with propellers (even turboprops) is small and dangerous.”
AW HELL NO.