reach a point where rescuers can reach them from the ground. how do you climb down such a long ladder? it was a long haul. i m getting a little weak in the knees, but we did it, and these kids were an inspiration. they did fine. nothing like terra firma, i tell you, the safety of the crew, the safety of the arms. we were all crying and just glad to be alive. bill presents both boys with a smokey bear pin as a tribute to their courage. meanwhile, 10-year-old aaron whitaker is shaken but in good spirits. would you ever fly again? probably when i m older. a couple years away, yeah, probably. but this year, no. sir, what about you? you betcha. you ve been flying for a long time. you bet, yep. i can t wait two years. i m getting too old to wait. thanks to a nationwide fund-raising effort, bill launches brand-new smokey
smokey balloon is driven off course by a 60-mile-an-hour blast of wind. there s smokey up there. despite bill s desperate efforts, there s no way to avoid a 700-foot radio transmission tower. my first thought was to get over it. i had no option except to go up. can t steer a balloon. bill fires his burners past their safety limit, trying in vain to fight the wind, but he can t rise fast enough to clear the tower. oh, he hit the tower. he s on the tower. when we hit the tower, the balloon exploded. virtually. and it was like hearing an amplified scream of a mad woman and a mountain lion and everything you ve ever heard scream all at once. he tore a hole in him. the fierce winds quickly ripped the balloon to shreds.
reach them from the ground. how do you climb down such a long ladder? it was a long haul. i m getting a little weak in the knees, but we did it, and these kids were an inspiration. they did fine. nothing like terra firma, i tell you, the safety of the crew, the safety of the arms. we were all crying and just glad to be alive. bill presents both boys with a smokey bear pin as a tribute to their courage. meanwhile, 10-year-old aaron whitaker is shaken but in good spirits. would you ever fly again? probably when i m older. a couple years away, yeah, probably. but this year, no. sir, what about you? you betcha. you ve been flying for a long time. you bet, yep. i can t wait two years. i m getting too old to wait. thanks to a nationwide fund-raising effort, bill launches brand-new smokey balloon in 2005, less than a
smokey balloon is driven off course by a 60-mile-an-hour blast of wind. there s smokey up there. despite bill s desperate efforts, there s no way to avoid a 700-foot radio transmission tower. my first thought was to get over it. i had no option except to go up. can t steer a balloon. bill fires his burners past their safety limit, trying in vain to fight the wind, but he can t rise fast enough to clear the tower. oh, he hit the tower. he s on the tower. when we hit the tower, the balloon exploded. virtually. and it was like hearing an amplified scream of a mad woman and a mountain lion and everything you ve ever heard scream all at once. he tore a hole in him. the fierce winds quickly ripped the balloon to shreds. it s tearing.
a spectator on the ground captures the moment when the smokey balloon is driven off course by a 60-mile-an-hour blast of wind. there s smokey up there. despite bill s desperate efforts, there s no way to avoid a 700-foot radio transmission tower. my first thought was to get over it. i had no option except to go up. can t steer a balloon. bill fires his burners past their safety limit, trying in vain to fight the wind, but he can t rise fast enough to clear the tower. oh, he hit the tower. he s on the tower. when we hit the tower, the balloon exploded. virtually. and it was like hearing an amplified scream of a mad woman and a mountain lion and everything you ve ever heard scream all at once. he tore a hole in him. the fierce winds quickly ripped the balloon to shreds.