Summary
A balloon festival in
Virginia on Friday evening ended both tragically and abruptly when a balloon
descended, hit a power line, and sparked a fire that killed the three
occupants. Two members of the University of Richmond women’s basketball program
were among those aboard. More than 100 state troopers and deputies search for
the third occupant (the pilot) on Saturday with no luck. Authorities have yet
to locate the basket that detached from the hot air balloon after there was an
explosion. One witness said that “debris was falling from the sky; the basket,
the balloon, everything was on fire.” The Federal Aviation Administration and
National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the crash and a
full-scale effort is scheduled to resume at daybreak Sunday.
Analysis
This story is terrifying and
makes me appreciate life more. I’m sure that the three people who were on the
hot air balloon never expected it to be the ultimate cause of their death. I
can’t even begin to imagine what must have been going through their minds as
they saw a power line quickly approaching and knew the pilot was doing all he
could to manage the situation, however it was to no avail. Carrie Hager-Bradley
witnessed those aboard the balloon pleading for their lives. “They were just screaming
for anybody to help them. ‘Help me, help me, sweet Jesus, help, I’m going to
die. Oh my God, I’m going to die,’” she said. I hope that I will never have to
experience that kind of fear, knowing that nothing you can do will help. I send
my condolences to the families of the three who are suffering right now, and I
hope they can make strides to prevent this from ever occurring in the future.
Here is the link to my
article:
well i'm never riding a hot balloon...ever. my prayers go out to the families of the victims.
ReplyDeleteI think this was a freak accident and that the pilot or whoever "driving" the plane should've just been more aware of his or her surroundings.
ReplyDeletePraying for the victims' families. This is a very strange and horrible occurrence; I hope nothing like this ever happens again and now I know not to ride in a hot air balloon! I hope they figure out what went wrong and come up with a solution.
ReplyDelete