PILOT FALLS OUT OF HOT AIR BALLOON, PASSENGERS LAND IT THEMSELVES

Passengers in a hot air balloon had to crash-land themselves after the pilot fell out of the basket on the first landing attempt. The incident took place in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The hot air balloon had taken off with nine on board – the pilot, a photographer and seven passengers. The winds kicked up, and the pilot took the balloon down quickly without warning the passengers. When the basket touched the ground, the pilot and two others were flung from it. But the pilot was still holding onto the rope as the balloon took to the skies again, but he let go and fell to the ground from a height of around 16 feet. It was up to the remaining passengers to pull on the rope to make it descend to ground again, despite no prior training. Investigators later said the balloon should not have taken off that day because of a strong wind warning. Thirty other ballooning companies operate in the region, yet the one involved in the incident was the only one operating on that day.
* Because JUST ONCE, they wanted to go up into a sky that wasn’t full of other balloons.
* “Pull the rope to come down!” “But I have NO PRIOR TRAINING!”
* You never know when you’re going to suffer from strong wind, especially at – all together now – Taco Bell.
* Meanwhile, the photographer’s going, “Don’t worry, I’ve got it all on film, for the lawsuit.”
* These guys and that man who just landed the plane in Florida when the pilot passed out should get together for some laughs.