It’s not every Tuesday morning in Sun City where residents can wake up to the sounds of extremely loud hissing noises of a hot air balloon. It’s not an ordinary morning here when the same neighbors can view the balloon’s descent over surrounding trees and eventual landing in practically their front or back yards.
Nevertheless, on Tuesday, June 24, at 7:27 a.m. in Neighborhood 32B, at the intersection of Windy Prairie Drive and Songbird Lane, a hot air balloon did safely touch down. Huntley’s Police and Fire Departments, responding to calls made by residents, found no injuries or damage to property.
Hot air balloon lands on intersection of Windy Prairie Dr. and Songbird Ln. in Neighborhood 32B. Emergency or not? (Photo provided by Tom Sansom)
To say that some residents were startled would be quite an understatement.
Neighborhood resident, Joe Moran, explains, “I heard strange noises at about 7:20 A.M. and first thought that someone was working outside the house. I looked out and couldn’t see anyone, then realized there was a balloon overhead…I first thought it was some kind of advertising thing and that the balloon was landing across 47…. The noises that caught my attention probably were the pilot adding more hot air to the balloon (using the burner) to keep from coming down too soon.”
Since that moment in time, controversy has surrounded comments made by Pilot Chad Morin, 37, of Marengo, who flew the balloon out of the Hampshire Airport, as well as Huntley Police Chief John Perkins’ understanding of Morin’s statements.
What constitutes a hot air balloon “Emergency Landing” seems to be the big question here. KOMOnews.com and Yahoo!, with videos to go with their info, show “Hot Air Balloon Emergency Landings.” Numerous balloon touch-downs that have occurred, almost all safely, in unusual locations, most in the United States, one in England and one in Australia, some on village streets, some on highways, and one in the water – all are referred to as “Emergency Landings.” The “Emergency Landing” caption seems to be used clearly whether or not there have been injuries to passengers or damage to land. Another site, eHow.com, states that sometimes the ideal location of an open field, away from people, animals, and houses, does not present itself to the pilot due to the fickleness of wind changes that might occur suddenly. Morin tells us in the earlier Tuesday, June 25th edition of the Daily Herald, “This just happened to be an area not frequented by balloons. It’s unorthodox, but it’s perfectly safe.” This Sun City controversy appears to be escalated by the fact that five days prior to this incident, another company’s hot air balloon landing occurred at Pinecrest Golf Course where minor injuries and minor land damage did occur.
When interviewed and seen in the same Daily Herald’s June 25th newspaper edition, Morin also made this comment, “It was planned and perfectly executed.” Morin is the owner of Nostalgia Ballooning, and the balloon in use is operated by Sky Soaring Glider Club of Hampshire, whose chase vehicle loaded the balloon and passengers within a 20 minute time period. The pilot continued, “There were no gusts. It was really calm out. There was no emergency.”
Chad added that he had been up in the air for an hour and 15 minutes and that balloon rides typically last an hour.
“I had plenty of fuel to go on another hour…[but] when you have a good landing spot, you take it,” he recalled. However, Neighborhood 32B resident, Tom Sansom, challenges the pilot’s statement.
Tom informs us, “The pilot clearly said that he landed because he was running low on fuel. He [Chad] said he did not want to take a chance on crossing Highway 47.”
According to The Daily Herald’s same edition, the Huntley Police Deputy on the scene, Michael Klunk, said that the pilot decided to execute an emergency landing after heavy winds began to blow the craft near high-tension power lines near I-90.
Klunk did add that a balloon can land where appropriate during an emergency landing and the pilot would not face any penalties. The same article was updated on the Herald’s website later that day with a comment made by Police Chief Perkins who added, “He [Morin] originally put down on the south side of I-90, southwest of Huntley. He came back up, crossed the interstate, and within just a few minutes he was back down on the ground (in Sun City). It’s extremely unusual, and it generated a lot of calls. We responded to it as an emergency.”
In the same updated Herald story, Perkins continues, “He was either very irresponsible for putting it [the balloon] down in a residential neighborhood or there was a safety problem…. If we believe that he brought that [balloon] down intentionally, I would have to pursue charges.”
The police chief said that he would consult with the Federal Aviation Administration.
Morin responded, “What I did was completely legal. Any FAA authority will agree with that.”
Jack Mahon of Neighborhood 32B adds this comment, “Out of curiosity, I enlarged the [balloon’s] basket area [of my camera picture] to see what I could see…. It seems clear that the situation has their [the four people aboard] attention.”
Neighborhood resident Tom Sansom finalizes with this info, “A woman passenger said that she had booked the ride as a birthday gift for her daughter.” Finally, with the last printed word for now on the subject of what is a hot air balloon emergency or not a hot air balloon emergency, Huntley’s Police Chief Perkins commented that some towns have ordinances prohibiting hot air balloons from landing there unless necessitated by an emergency….
Editorial note: all quotes by Huntley Police Chief Perkins and Chad Morin are derived from June 25’s edition of the Daily Herald.
