This week a serious accident occurred during the Gordon Bennett Cup, the oldest international gas balloon race, in the US. Two Polish pilots’ balloon collided with a power line, exploded and crashed. Both men survived the crash with injuries.
The two Poles, Krzystotf Zapart and Pyotr Halas, were taken to hospital; according to race officials, they suffered burns, broken bones and cuts. The accident occurred around 7:25 PM local time on Tuesday in the small Texas town of Crandall, nearly 25 miles east of Dallas.
Eyewitness: “We were just in shock”
“We were just in shock and speechless,” Jacob Dixon, who witnessed the accident while waiting in line at a nearby McDonald’s, told broadcaster NBS. “It was orange and then the fire went out and all you could see was the whole balloon turned white,” Dixon recalled. “White and then suddenly it started booming and flashing orange again and then the balloon sank.”
Pilots had experience with gas balloons
The Poles were the first of the seventeen balloon teams to leave for the race on Saturday evening. According to the race management of the Gordon Bennett Cup, the duo are pilots who have experience in handling gas balloons.
Unlike hot air balloons, the buoyancy in gas balloons is generated by a so-called lifting gas – mainly hydrogen (H2) and helium. The major disadvantage of the former is that H2 is flammable, which has led to serious fires several times in the history of aviation. The best-known example is the accident of the Zeppelin “Hindenburg” in 1937.
Source: Krone
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