Remember That Hot Air Balloon Race That Went Over Wichita Falls? Someone Shot it Down in Dallas
Well one team's hot air balloon crash landed after flying over Dallas and taking on gunfire.
In Case You Were Not Keeping Up With the Gordon Bennett Balloon Race
So back on Monday, I reported that a hot air balloon was traveling over Wichita Falls. This was no need for concern. This is apparently an annual race that the FAA and other authorities are aware of so that pilots can avoid the balloons. They're being tracked at all times and it looks like Team Poland went right over Wichita Falls on Monday.
Light Blue Line is Team Poland 1
Screenshot above is from the Gordon Bennett tracker website. Looks like France's 2nd team went the furthest across the country making it all the way to North Carolina. Well look at that light blue line for Pol 1. They went right over Wichita Falls on the way through Dallas. According to pilots on board, they crashed just outside of the DFW area, why?
Team Poland 1, Avoiding Gunfire
Sadly, after I wrote the story in the afternoon. Team Poland 1 crashed outside of DFW. They apparently hit some power lines in the area. The two pilots aboard Krzystolf Zapart and Pjotr Halas claimed they were being shot at from the ground and were avoiding gunfire. According to reports, the balloon was leaking a liquid so it's believed they were hit by some of those bullets before crashing. Zapart sustained cuts and burns to his legs while Halas sustained burns and broken bones in his legs and midsection.
We obviously wish these two a full recovery and hopefully find whoever was responsible for firing upon a hot air balloon.
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