Read the full article on KETV 7
SIX. KOCO FIVE NEWS NEW AT FIVE. I LOVE THAT WE’RE DOING MORE ON THIS BECAUSE IT WAS A SURPRISING WAKE UP CALL FOR A METRO NEIGHBORHOOD. AN UNUSUAL LANDING, WE COULD CALL IT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STREET. SURE. KOCO ABIGAIL OGLE JOINING US HERE IN STUDIO NOW TO EXPLAIN. ABBY. GUYS. THAT’S RIGHT. LET ME SHOW YOU. THIS IS WHAT TOUCHED DOWN IN AN EDMONTON NEIGHBORHOOD OVER THE WEEKEND. A HOT AIR BALLOON EDMOND. POLICE RESPONDED WHEN IT LANDED THERE IN THE STREET. THIS GOT US THINKING. HOW COMMON ARE THESE NEIGHBORHOOD LANDINGS? WELL, KOCO GOT THE ANSWER STRAIGHT FROM THE PILOT HIMSELF. THERE ARE THERE ARE TIMES DURING THE YEAR THAT I FIND MYSELF NEEDING TO LAND IN NEIGHBORHOODS BECAUSE THE WIND HAS CALMED DOWN SO BAD. YOU KNOW, WE HAVE TO FLY WHEN THE WINDS ARE LESS THAN 8 TO 10 MILES AN HOUR. BUT THERE ARE TIMES WHEN A HIGH PRESSURE RIDGE GETS RIGHT OVER THE TOP OF US THAT IT DROPS THE WIND DOWN TO LESS THAN TWO MILE AN HOUR. AND LITERALLY, I THINK THAT THIS PARTICULAR FLIGHT, THE LAST TEN MINUTES OF THE FLIGHT, I WAS CIRCLING IN ABOUT A BLOCK RADIUS. INTERESTING. SO THERE WERE SIX PEOPLE ON BOARD IN THE BASKET WHEN THIS HAPPENED. NOBODY WAS HURT. THE PASSENGERS BOOKED JUST TO FLY. THERE WAS NO SPECIAL OCCASION. THERE WAS NO PROPOSAL IN THE SKY, NO FESTIVAL, JUST SOME PEOPLE WANTING TO HIT THE SKY. PILOT DUER, WHO WE SPOKE TO, SAYS HE’
Advertisement
Hot air balloon pilot details landing in Oklahoma neighborhood street
A hot air balloon made an unexpected landing in the middle of a street in an Edmond, Oklahoma, neighborhood over the weekend, but this isn’t the only time something like this has happened. Edmond police responded to the scene after the balloon touched down. But how common are landings like these? Sister station KOCO spoke with the pilot to understand how the landing occurred. “There are times during the year that I need to land in neighborhoods because the wind has gotten so bad, but there are times when a high-pressure ridge gets on top of us. I was circling a block radius,” pilot Darrell Duer Jr. said.Six people were aboard the balloon’s basket during the landing, and no one was hurt. The passengers had booked the flight simply to enjoy the experience, with no special occasion or festival involved. Duer said he has been around hot air balloons since 1977.
A hot air balloon made an unexpected landing in the middle of a street in an Edmond, Oklahoma, neighborhood over the weekend, but this isn’t the only time something like this has happened.
Edmond police responded to the scene after the balloon touched down. But how common are landings like these?
Advertisement
Sister station KOCO spoke with the pilot to understand how the landing occurred.
“There are times during the year that I need to land in neighborhoods because the wind has gotten so bad, but there are times when a high-pressure ridge gets on top of us. I was circling a block radius,” pilot Darrell Duer Jr. said.
Six people were aboard the balloon’s basket during the landing, and no one was hurt.
The passengers had booked the flight simply to enjoy the experience, with no special occasion or festival involved.
Duer said he has been around hot air balloons since 1977.
