our first thought was, will the balloon fall from the tower? will the basket fall from the tower? will it stay intact? i hope that thing don t rip and let the basket fall. bill and his young passengers have only seconds to act. we could see that the tower had a ladder inside it, and there was room for us to climb out of the basket into the tower. the two boys, well, they both were very brave. from the spectator s camera, we see the distant shape of 14-year-old troy wells climbing onto the tower and then helping the younger aaron whitaker. one of the thoughts i had was i hope the tower stays together. the huge balloon becomes a sail as it tears open, creating tremendous pressure, actually flexing the tower itself. but bill and the boys keep going despite the danger. we just got out and began our long, long climb down.
ripped the balloon to shreds. it s tearing. when it happened, of course, our first thought was, will the balloon fall from the tower? will the basket fall from the tower? will it stay intact? i hope that thing don t rip and let the basket fall. bill and his young passengers have only seconds to act. we could see that the tower had a ladder inside it, and there was room for us to climb out of the basket into the tower. the two boys, well, they both were very brave. from the spectator s camera, we see the distant shape of 14-year-old troy wells climbing onto the tower and then helping the younger aaron whitaker. one of the thoughts i had was i hope the tower stays together. the huge balloon becomes a sail as it tears open, creating tremendous pressure, actually flexing the tower itself. but bill and the boys keep going
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 year after the accident. and in 2009, bill is back in
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 smokey balloon is driven off course by a 60-mile-an-hour
the fierce winds quickly ripped the balloon to shreds. it s tearing. when it happened, of course, our first thought was, will the balloon fall from the tower? will the basket fall from the tower? will it stay intact? i hope that thing don t rip and let the basket fall. bill and his young passengers have only seconds to act. we could see that the tower had a ladder inside it, and there was room for us to climb out of the basket into the tower. the two boys, well, they both were very brave. from the spectator s camera, we see the distant shape of 14-year-old troy wells climbing onto the tower and then helping the younger aaron whitaker. one of the thoughts i had was i hope the tower stays together. the huge balloon becomes a sail as it tears open, creating tremendous pressure, actually flexing the tower itself. but bill and the boys keep going despite the danger. we just got out and began our