Round-the-World Balloon Jumps the Gun

A pressurized, 10-story balloon scheduled to fly around the world next week took a different course Thursday, breaking free from its chains and bouncing across the desert near Reno.

As winds gusted up to 30 m.p.h., the air-filled balloon knocked over a trailer and jumped over a car before it disappeared behind a hill and deflated, dashing the hopes of promoters to launch a history-making flight this year.

“It bounded across the desert,” said Erin Porter, a media consultant for Hilton Hotels Corp. who witnessed the event. “It missed my car and missed the port-a-potty. It ended up as a big mass of fabric out in the sagebrush.”

The balloon was part of a sophisticated dual-balloon craft known as the Earthwinds Hilton that was designed to fly six miles high and become the first manned balloon to circumnavigate the world.

As tall as a 27-story building when fully assembled, the craft consisted of a helium balloon on top, a pressurized capsule for three crew members and the air-filled anchor balloon below to provide ballast.

After the accident, flight promoters said they hoped they could make repairs or manufacture a new balloon in six to eight weeks and launch the Earthwinds before the end of February while weather conditions remain favorable.

“This is a setback but I still have my enthusiasm for the project,” said Barron Hilton, chairman of Hilton Hotels and a key sponsor of the flight.

The anchored balloon escaped when winds shredded a protective vinyl dome housing the craft.

Porter, who was giving a tour to reporters at the time, said she heard what sounded like two thunderclaps inside the dome. She looked up and saw two tears in the pressurized tent. As the group hurried outside, the dome began disintegrating.

Organizers had believed the dome was designed to withstand winds up to 70 miles an hour. “Obviously, it wasn’t,” Porter said.

About 40 project workers inside at the time worked frantically to cut the fabric of the dome away from the capsule, which suffered only damage to its antennas. But the balloon broke free and bounded away.

“It’s really a miracle we’re all intact and OK,” Porter said. “I’m just relieved nobody was hurt.”

Over the years, efforts to circumnavigate the Earth by balloon have been plagued with problems. Last year, the Earthwinds crew attempted to launch their flight from Akron, Ohio, but strong ground winds prevented the liftoff. So this year they moved to Stead Airport just outside Reno, where such winds were not expected to be a problem.

Promoters had planned to launch the flight as early as next Tuesday, when a combination of calm winds on the ground and strong currents higher up would have allowed the balloon to soar up and catch the jet stream.