Tragic Accident involving two Univ of Richmond WBB coaches

[UConnCat]

News out of Richmond is that 2 members of the WBB staff were aboard a hot air balloon that struck power lines and caught fire last night. One passenger has been recovered; the other two are still missing. Names of the passengers not yet revealed.

http://www.henricocitizen.com/news/article/010460#.U25K8cyWs7A

 

[UConnChapette]

Horrible news. Recent report is it is now a recovery mission, not a rescue so they are presumed dead. Just so sad.

 

[RadyLady]

CNN reports. I cannot watch

 

[UConnCat]

Washington Post confirms that one of the victims is Asst Coach Ginny Doyle who played at Richmond and has been an asst coach for many years. Ginny was originally from the Philadelphia area.

Another unidentified member of the staff also in the balloon.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local...d6ec8c-d864-11e3-95d3-3bcd77cd4e11_story.html

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

Horrible. Even without the WBB connection.

Call me a coward, but there are a number of things I don't do, not because they are particularly unsafe, but because if something goes horribly wrong, there aren't many good scenarios. Ballooning is one of those, although I admire those who fly them.

 

[UConnChapette]

Horrible. Even without the WBB connection.

Call me a coward, but there are a number of things I don't do, not because they are particularly unsafe, but because if something goes horribly wrong, there aren't many good scenarios. Ballooning is one of those, although I admire those who fly them.

Sky diving is another one for me. I prefer to keep my feet on the ground. As exciting as it looks, when things go bad, they go bad in a big way.

Sending prayers and thoughts of comfort to those impacted.

 

[UConnCat]

The other member of the Richmond WBB staff in the balloon was Dir of BB Operations Natalie Lewis. She is the 3rd passenger who has yet to be found.

 

[Fishy]

Ugh. What an awful story.

I agree on not getting in one of those things - not that I needed any further confirmation, but a hot air balloon bounced off the front of my house five years ago and ended up in the yard. They don't go exactly where you want them to go.

 

[meyers7]

I saw part of the story on the news this morning, had not heard of the WBB connection. Very sad story.

 

[UConnCat]

Ugh. What an awful story.

I agree on not getting in one of those things - not that I needed any further confirmation, but a hot air balloon bounced off the front of my house five years ago and ended up in the yard. They don't go exactly where you want them to go.

These balloons were in the air at 8 pm last night, after it was too foggy to take off at 6:30 pm. I left work last night at 8 pm and recall thinking about visibility as I put my headlights on. Not the best time to be in a hot air balloon.

Updated story from the Washington Post. Richmond Head Coach Michael Schafer and his two young kids (7 and 9) were in another balloon that took off about the same time.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local...d6ec8c-d864-11e3-95d3-3bcd77cd4e11_story.html

 

[SallyH]

When we lived in NY we went fishing with our neighbor in Long Island Sound and caught a hot air balloon. He had taken off from Long Island and the wind died, so we towed his across.

 

[pinotbear]

When we lived in NY we went fishing with our neighbor in Long Island Sound and caught a hot air balloon. He had taken off from Long Island and the wind died, so we towed his across.

Man, what a bunch of questions popped into my mind when I read this!

What did you use for bait? Was it "live" bait (champagne, sushi, canapes)? If it was artificial what was it (Splenda, Botox, silcon-enhanced ..uh, um.. well, you know)?
What's the legal limit for hot air balloons? One per day?
Is there a minimum size? How do you measure it, and, if it's too small, do you have to throw it back?
Was your cooler big enough, or did you have to strap it to your roof rack?
Are there different state regs for freshwater balloons and salt water?
Is it a 12-month season, or is it restricted? If restricted, when's opening day? Does the state "stock" certain waterways, or are all the balloons "native" stock?

See? Lots of questions!

 

[SallyH]

Well, Pinot, it was just one of those hot, dead air days. There was only one man in the balloon and he could go up and down, but there was no breeze to push him forward or backward at all. He dropped down a tow rope and it was a little complicated to tie the rope to a cleat since the cleat is built to withstand lateral forces and not vertical ones. In a sailboat you can run that line through a number of pullies to reduce the strain, but we got it done. I can't imagine how these folks ran into a power line. A real tragedy.

 

[JellyBean]

I just read about this sad story. My heart and prayers go out to the families in this sad event.

 

[DaddyChoc]

the search is over... all recovered (article)

 

[Samanthabrown3]

Natalie was a WNY native and attended the high school where my sister teaches. The principal has been interviewed by multiple media, and TV reporters were around the school all day--respectfully, fortunately. But wouldn't you rather have the reporters there for most anything else?

http://www.buffalonews.com/city-reg...din-star-after-hot-air-balloon-crash-20140510

 

[UConnCat]

A month ago Ginny Doyle was very close to being named head coach at Bucknell. In fact, some said the announcement was imminent. She changed her mind and decided to remain at Richmond.