by Phil Boulter
I was flying with about five other balloons from our normal launch site in Hungerford, United Kingdom, halfway between London and Bristol. Our Cameron N90 had only myself and two first timers in the basket. At the time I had held my license for about 18 months.
It was a quiet evening. We had clear skies and about 6-10 knots, forecast to drop at dusk. The flight was spent mostly at altitude, with the normal splendid views of the English countryside. I started to look for a landing site at about the same time as everybody else. Three balloons landed about five minutes before me, all having stand up landings. I carried out my normal landing briefing. As these passengers had never flown before, this was about the fourth time I had told them about the possible dangers of the basket tipping over.
As I descended toward a huge area of fallow land, things went according to plan. I had cleared a large hill about five minutes before landing. Moving at only about five knots I was not too far away from the hill as I approached the landing site.
The field I had chosen was an absolute gift. I was approaching a town, and beyond that town was a large area where many horses were kept. I knew it would be difficult to land there. There were cattle in two fields before my chosen target so I came in high, dropping sharply once we cleared them.
I leveled out at 20 feet at the start of my landing field. As I eased it in those last few feet we were caught in a gust of wind which had quite an effect. Instead of going slowly down I was now starting to slowly rise. I suspect false lift was coming into play. Also the ground speed was picking up, making what would have otherwise been a slow landing a little more exciting.
I'm afraid this is where inexperience took over. I decided that at little more than 20 feet I should rip out and drag across what was still a large expanse of fallow field rather than risk going over the next town. I did so, warning my passengers to stay low and hold on tight. While ripping I did what I always do on a fast landing, I wrapped the red line around my left hand as I reeled it in.
We hit with reasonable speed and started to drag. The passengers were fine, but as we hit I was halfway through pulling the line and had no free hands left to steady myself. I was thrown forward out of the basket. I stopped - but the basket did not - and it proceeded to run me over! Baskets are heavy when you lift them into the trailer; they are even heavier when they run up and over your back with two people in!
The basket was now in front of me, and I was left behind. I had only one card left to play! I still had the rip line wrapped around my hand, and it was this that now started to drag me across the field behind the balloon. I managed to regain what little sense I have, got to my feet and dug in! The envelope was now collapsing and after another 30 feet or so came to a full stop. Even now, two years later, I dread to think what would have happened if I had not had hold of the rip line!
Two minutes later the passengers climbed out of the basket, big grins on their faces! - If only they knew!!! Three minutes later the adrenaline started to fade and I realized how much my back ached! I was lucky - only a few bruises but I felt like a cripple for a few days.
In the UK it is now compulsory for commercial pilots to wear a restraint. I for one would not worry if it also became compulsory for private pilots as well!
Conclusion - well I don't know. I still wrap the rip line around my hand if it looks like we might tip over. Maybe I should have burned, and worried about finding a landing site on the other side of town? I'll never know if I was right......
Ed Note: Restraining harnesses (seat belts) are required in all autos, operating in two dimensions. Surely balloons, operating in three dimensions, should have harnesses available. Is there another way to hold on to the line without wrapping? Traditional rules state that the captain should always be the last one to leave the ship!