albuquerque, new mexico a hot air balloon crashes into a 700-foot radio tower, leaving the pilot and his two young passengers dangling from above with little hope for survival. bill chappell is a retired forester with the u.s. forest service. for the past 15 years, he s piloted a hot air balloon modeled after smokey bear, the consummate symbol of fire prevention. it s a lot of fun. we all have a grand time doing it. it s a good excuse to be a kid again. and at the same time preventing fires. but during a 2004 flight at the albuquerque international balloon fiesta, ironically it s the friendly face of smokey bear at the center of a catastrophe. well, it was like any other day. it was the last day of the fiesta here. the weather was as predictable as it could be. they had predicted calm breezes, and that s the way it started. bill has two young passengers in his balloon, 14-year-old troy wells and 10-year-old aaron whitaker. on that particular morning, we had what you call mi
we had what you call microbursts or wind shears that just come out of nowhere. a sudden wind that just fouled everything up that morning. 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
modeled after smokey bear, the consummate symbol of fire prevention. it s a lot of fun. we all have a grand time doing it. it s a good excuse to be a kid again. and at the same time preventing fires. but during a 2004 flight at the albuquerque international balloon fiesta, ironically it s the friendly face of smokey bear at the center of a catastrophe. well, it was like any other day. it was the last day of the fiesta here. the weather was as predictable as it could be. they had predicted calm breezes, and that s the way it started. bill has two young passengers in his balloon, 14-year-old troy wells and 10-year-old aaron whitaker. on that particular morning, we had what you call microbursts or wind shears that just come out of nowhere. a sudden wind that just fouled everything up that morning. a spectator on the ground
we all have a grand time doing it. it s a good excuse to be a kid again. and at the same time preventing fires. but during a 2004 flight at the albuquerque international balloon fiesta, ironically it s the friendly face of smokey bear at the center of a catastrophe. well, it was like any other day. it was the last day of the fiesta here. the weather was as predictable as it could be. they had predicted calm breezes, and that s the way it started. bill has two young passengers in his balloon, 14-year-old troy wells and 10-year-old aaron whitaker. on that particular morning, we had what you call microbursts or wind shears that just come out of nowhere. a sudden wind that just fouled everything up that morning. a spectator on the ground captures the moment when the
consummate symbol of fire prevention. it s a lot of fun. we all have a grand time doing it. it s a good excuse to be a kid again. and at the same time preventing fires. but during a 2004 flight at the albuquerque international balloon fiesta, ironically it s the friendly face of smokey bear at the center of a catastrophe. well, it was like any other day. it was the last day of the fiesta here. the weather was as predictable as it could be. they had predicted calm breezes, and that s the way it started. bill has two young passengers in his balloon, 14-year-old troy wells and 10-year-old aaron whitaker. on that particular morning, we had what you call microbursts or wind shears that just come out of nowhere. a sudden wind that just fouled everything up that morning. a spectator on the ground captures the moment when the