Posted on 10/15/2009 11:45:55 AM PDT by Arec Barrwin
Rescuers are tracking and chasing a "homemade flying saucer" that is in flight with a 6-year-old, by himself, on board.
The incident started this morning in Fort Collins when the boy got into the balloon-like device, which was built by an adult, and it came loose from a tether, according to the Larimer County Sheriff's Office.
The contraption could rise as high as 10,000 feet, the sheriff's office said.
The home-made flying saucer was last seen in flight over Weld County.
The sheriff's office is working the Federal Aviation Administration to determine how to best get the boy down.
The homemade airplane was tethered in Fort Collins when the boy got onboard and it floated away. (Lisa Ecklund via 9News)
The six-year-old boy was by himself on board the hommade aircraft. (Courtesy Lisa Ecklund, via 9News)
The craft could fly as high as 10,000 feet, according to the Weld County Sheriff's Office. (Lisa Ecklund via 9News)
I don’t think a chopper is the right way to go. Too much downdraft on the balloon. Needs to be a large ultralight trailing a snag line of large, sharp treble hooks. Snag the balloon and take it down to a soft landing.
Thanks pillut, I just saw all this about 10 minutes ago! It's collapsing now, hope it goes down slow and lands in a safe place.
Me too Palladin, me too.
One side is clearly deflating....
One good thing here is if it impacts something, and the kid is actually inside, thanks to the design, he should have an “airbag” surrounding him.
Oh WOW, really?
It looks as though it’s starting to deflate- one side is flattening..
Deflating/-ed more on one side, which is causing it to tilt. That could be bad.
8,000 ft. elevation. That's somewhere around 2,000 to 3,000 ft. above the ground in this region.
Thanks for the info! One side is definitely compressing — what does that mean?
This thing is losing too much gas too fast. This poor little boy is not going to survive without a miracle, may God have mercy.
Manslaughter rap? Why?????
It’s actually 1:20 in the afternoon
Never designed to fly!!! Very thin plywood bottom - not designed to survive a hard landing. DAMN!
A whole lot now! Thankfully looks like open land as I’m watching now. Over the city would be really bad.
send in paratroopers from a helicopter. they should be able to snag it and guide it down safely
PRAYING! (And watching live on FoxNews)
Apparently you’ve never seen little kids on rides at Disneyland! Depending on how fast it’s spinning he may be having a blast—or he could be throwing up his guts. :-(
Appears to be at about 2k feet....Moving at about 40 mph
National guard in area is launching an aircraft.
Altitude is given relative to sea level.
8,000 ft. is 2 - 3,000 ft. above the ground around here.
They are saying its at 6500 feet now, it has dropped and it is losing helium, they claim, a good deal of it in the past 15 minutes.
They need to attach a shrimp trawl to a long rope attached to a 400 foot rope and net the entire balloon and bring him down.
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