Balloon Lands in Hot Spot
A hot-air balloon became entangled in a radio tower on the final day of the city’s trademark balloon festival Sunday, forcing the pilot and two young passengers to climb most of the way down the nearly 700-foot-tall structure.
Bill Chapel was piloting the balloon -- a likeness of the face of Smokey Bear -- when it blew into the radio tower near a park where the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta was being held.
“All you can do is grit your teeth and hold on to your passengers and prepare them for the impact,” he said.
The hot-air balloon’s canopy got wrapped up around the three-sided tower, leaving its gondola resting against the structure. Chapel, 69, and passengers Aaron Whitacre, 10, and Troy Wells, 14, then climbed down the tower’s ladder.
“I hung on to the tower with all my strength, and I got them calmed down,” Chapel said. He added that he didn’t need to tell the boys what to do: “They climbed down the tower and I followed them.”
KKOB-AM shut down its 50,000-watt transmitter and emergency crews gathered at the base of the tower, festival spokeswoman Kathie Leyendecker said.
About 100 feet above the ground, workers met the three and helped them into a utility truck bucket.
The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board were investigating the incident.
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