6-year-old boy floats away in balloon
FORT COLLINS, Colo. — A 6-year-old boy climbed into a homemade balloon aircraft in Colorado and floated away Thursday, forcing officials to scramble to figure out how to rescue the boy as the balloon hurtled through the air.
The bizarre scene played out live on television and prompted fears that the flying saucer-shaped balloon would crash with the young child inside. The balloon rotated slowly in the wind, tipping precariously at times.
Cathy Davis of the Larimer County Sheriff’s Department told reporters the balloon was owned by the boy’s parents and tethered behind the family’s home. She said two sons were playing outside when the older boy saw the younger one go into a compartment at the bottom of the balloon and fly away.
“We’ll just have to respond the best we can,” Davis said. “This is a first and we’ll do what we need to do.”
She said the family was in contact with experts to provide details on the craft, including what it’s made of and what might happen when it reaches the ground.
Capt. Troy Brown of the Colorado Army National Guard said an OH-58 Kiowa helicopter was in the air and a Black Hawk UH-60 was also about to take off.
Brown said one chopper would be equipped with a hoist normally used to raise people from the ground in rescues. In this case it could be used to lower someone to the balloon.
Brown said the Army Guard is also working with pilots of ultralight aircraft on the possibility of putting weights on the homemade craft to weigh it down. It wasn’t immediately clear if the goal was to bring the craft to the ground or to just lower its elevation.
Brown said there would be a medic on one of the helicopters.
Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Laura Brown said the agency is tracking the balloon through reports from pilots and that air traffic control facilities in the region are aware of the situation.
Larimer County sheriff’s spokeswoman Eloise Campanella said the device had the potential to rise to 10,000 feet. Sheriff’s officials last saw the device floating south of Milliken, which is about 40 miles north of Denver.
“We were sitting eating, out looking where they normally shoot off hot air balloons. My husband said he saw something. It went over our rooftop. Then we saw the big round balloonish thing, it was spinning,” said neighbor Lisa Eklund.
Additional details about the child and the balloon were not immediately available.
“By the time I saw it, it traveled pretty fast,” Eklund said.
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