A hot air balloon caused KKOB’s radio tower to collapse in Albuquerque’s North Valley Friday morning, according to Bernalillo County Fire Rescue (BCFR)
KRQE-TV reports fire crews and law enforcement were called out to the scene after the balloon hit the tower around 8:45 a.m. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said the balloon collided with the tower shortly after launching from Balloon Fiesta Park.
Three people were on board and were able to safely land in the balloon, according to the FAA and BCFR. No one was injured in the incident, BCFR added.
Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office deputies tracked the balloon as it was still in the air and, along with the FAA, met with the two occupants and one pilot, Dan Ewer of Tuscon, Arizona, who landed in the front yard of a home.
The FAA is the lead investigating agency and expects to release a preliminary accident/incident report in the coming days.
The downed tower forced News Radio 770 KKOB AM off the air. Cumulus Broadcasting, which owns KKOB, is assessing the damage and clean up of the tower.
Cumulus has not commented on the accident.
No comments:
Post a Comment