China Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 Balloon pilot killed in Ga., passengers are safe ATLANTA — As a fierce thunderstorm that seemed to come out of nowhere closed in, hot-air balloon pilot Edward Ristaino spotted an open field 4,000 feet below and calmly and tersely warned the five skydivers aboard the craft, "You need to get out now." He may have saved their lives, but he lost his own. With lightning spidering across the sky and the wind rocking their parachutes, the skydivers floated safely to the ground, while the balloon was sucked up into the clouds, then sent crashing to earth. Ristaino's body wasn't found until Monday, nearly three days later. "If we would have left a minute later, we would have been sucked into the storm," said skydiver Dan Eaton. The group had taken off Friday evening, ascending into a blue sky from a festival in Fitzgerald, Ga., about 175 miles south of Atlanta. From the air, they could see only a haze that soon turned menacing. "It started off as just a red dot on the radar, and then it mushroomed very quickly into a big storm. This one just popped up out of the blue," Ben Hill County Sheriff Bobby McLemore said. ... An updraft took Ristaino into the clouds, 17,000 or 18,000 feet up, he told his ground crew via walkie-talkie. Then the storm apparently collapsed the balloon and twisted it into a streamer. In his last transmission, he reported that he was at 2,000 feet and saw trees beneath him, according to the sheriff. Click on the link for the full article Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G.A.C.O.L.B. Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 Damn shame he didn't also have a parachute. Seems like that would be something you should always take with you. Kinda like life jacket on a boat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sideshow24 Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 Damn shame he didn't also have a parachute. Seems like that would be something you should always take with you. Kinda like life jacket on a boat. I thought that too, but I wonder if he would have jumped even then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Mike Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 Damn shame he didn't also have a parachute. Seems like that would be something you should always take with you. Kinda like life jacket on a boat. Except that if you've never trained to use a parachute, it can be as dangerous as jumping into the ocean with a 20 lb weight chained to your ankle. Even if you know how to skydive, a parachute brings it's own set of safety concerns just wearing one in a tight space where a handle or flap can be snagged, so there is a trade off. And finally, a good rig is expensive and requires a commitment to keeping it in good working order. So yeah, most people just trust in their aircraft or balloon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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