The following story appeared in the Colorado Springs Gazette on September 04,
2005
89 balloons soar; top attraction grounded
A Federal Aviation Administration official abruptly canceled the biggest
billed attraction of this year’s three-day Colorado Balloon Classic,
upsetting organizers who fear the decision could threaten the future of
the 29-year-old event. Eighty-nine balloons rose into the cool dawn Saturday morning to an orchestra
of propane torches and a backdrop of Pikes Peak. But the most advertised
attraction, a man who straps himself to a giant cluster of helium-filled
balloons, was grounded minutes before liftoff by an FAA safety inspector.
Colorado was to be the next step in his quest to fly in all 50 states.
Although the FAA incident soured the morning for organizers, hundreds
of contented attendees relished the festival atmosphere and color-pocked
sky after the balloons took off. They rose with the sun and drifted southeast
across the city from Memorial Park. Barring bad weather, they will fly
again at 7 a.m. today and Monday. Carl and EllaRae Tucker of Kansas City, Kan., discovered the balloon
festival 15 years ago when visiting Colorado Springs on Labor Day weekend.
They’ve returned throughout the years since. “It was great
this year,” Carl Tucker said. Balloon Classic organizers, who work closely with FAA safety inspectors to obtain written permission for the event, cleared the cluster-balloon flight two months ago, said President Patsy Buchwald and Safety Officer Dean Leas. Saturday, FAA Safety Inspector Dale Shuel, a supervisor, overruled the waiver on the spot.
Event organizers sent a letter to Shuel on June 21, asking if he had
questions about the cluster balloons. Shuel never replied but forwarded
the letter to his supervisor, who signed off on it. The balloon cluster is not the same type of aircraft as a traditional
hot-air balloon, Shuel said, and therefore not covered under the FAA waiver.
The cluster, he said, is considered an ultralight aircraft, according
to FAA rules. Such aircraft are not subject to certifications or oversight
and aren’t permitted to fly in heavily populated areas. Buchwald and Leas feared Shuel’s sudden decision to trump the waiver
required for balloonists to fly will keep them from returning next year.
“We’ve lost that trust,” she said. Leas, who also serves
on the Balloon Classic’s executive committee, said, “That’s
going to scare every pilot that’s here . . . It really does have
a big ripple (effect).” Shuel said the FAA will investigate why there was a communication breakdown
within the FAA and why the cluster of balloons was approved for flight
by other FAA employees. The regulations, he said, are to protect public
safety. Ninomiya, of Solana Beach, Calif., was visibly angry Saturday. “I’ve
never been treated this way by the FAA in any other jurisdiction,”
he said, noting he’s flown hot-air balloons for about 20 years and
piloted the cluster of balloons in 16 other states. He’s flown out
of other major cities, including Baton Rouge, La. Ninomiya’s flights — similar to cartoon gags where carnival
balloons carry characters away — have been featured on TV and in
national publications, including “Inside Edition” and “Reader’s
Digest.” Ninomiya’s flight was to be the highlight of this year’s
event and was the most heavily promoted, Leas said. Past attractions have
included skydivers and hanggliders. Another scheduled attraction Saturday, remote-controlled hot-air balloons,
didn’t take place because the group didn’t show up. The Balloon Classic, founded in 1977, has struggled to regain momentum since 2003, when weather kept balloons from flying all three days. Last year, balloons could fly on only one day.
CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0198 or bnewsome@gazette.com |
The above account is essentially correct. I should note that the Balloon Classic had arranged for helium to be donated by a local firm (the "sponsor" mentioned in the article). FAR Part 103 is for non-commercial operations, and I do not receive any compensation from any balloon festival at which I do a cluster balloon flight. Aside from the cost balloons, as noted in the article, I paid for my own travel, for travel and accommodations for my crew chiefs, and miscellaneous materials. My out-of-pocket costs for these additional items was roughly another thousand dollars. This does not include the costs of missing several days of work to travel to Colorado and prepare for the flight.
Detailed Chronology of Events
Dale Shuel, the FAA inspector, showed up when I was about a third of the way done with inflating the balloons on Saturday morning. He asked several questions that displayed a complete lack of familiarity with the flight that had already been approved, and expressed concerns about the legality of the flight. I referred him to Patsy Buchwald, and asked him to let me know as soon as possible if the flight would not be permitted, so I could at least save some of the expensive balloons and donated helium. Dale indicated that he would do so, and that I could continue inflating.
After an hour, after the inflation of all the balloons was complete, I was called over to the festival stage. A more junior FAA inspector who had accompanied Dale was there, looking through an FAR (federal aviation regulation) manual, and declaring herself unable to find the applicable regulations; Dale was off somewhere else, presumably somewhere in the park. I found the applicable regulations for the FAA woman, and she called Dale on his cell phone to read them to him. Dale said that he thought my flight was illegal according to the regulations, and when asked explicitly, said that he would charge me with a violation if I flew. Both Patsy Buchwald and I spent time on the phone attempting to get him to reconsider and honor the initial agreement we'd received from the FAA. He refused. I told him that I would not fly.
I had the crew begin to deflate the balloons. When we were about halfway done, Dean Leas from the Balloon Classic came over, and said that Dale had said that he had tried to reach his supervisor, and that if his supervisor agreed to absolve Dale of all responsibility for my flight, the flight would be allowed to take place. However, his supervisor was not immediately available, and we had already released the helium from too many balloons to do a safe flight. Also, it was already well after the launch of the second wave of hot-air balloons, and getting too late in the morning to fly safely. We completed the deflation of the balloons.
My Thoughts
I pride myself on doing my helium cluster balloon flights safely and legally. I have done a total of 38 flights, without any injury (to myself or others) or damage to property. I have never been cited for violating any FARs. I cooperate with the local FAA wherever I'm flying, and have had FAA inspectors at about a third of my flights over the past several years.
The legality of many of my flights hinges on the "congested areas" prohibition in FAR Part 103. Like "densely populated areas", "congested areas" are not clearly defined in the regulations. FAA inspectors at many other events have allowed me to flight in areas similar to the area around Memorial Park in Colorado Springs, i.e. single-family residential areas, away from the city center, with anticipated wind directions taking me toward more open areas for landing. Baton Rouge, where I flew two cluster flights at the North American Balloon Association Nationals in early August 2005, was very similar to Colorado Springs in this respsect.
I respect the authority of the local FSDO to make determinations regarding whether I can fly -- even when the answer is "no", as it has occasionally been. In the case of Colorado Springs, I think that compliance with the congested areas limitation flying out of Memorial Park is legitimately a "grey area", which is why I asked the Balloon Classic to get a determination from the FAA as early as possible.
However, with that permission granted, having it overruled at the last possible minute is deeply troubling -- particularly when significant time and effort have been devoted to planning based on the original permission. The original permission was certainly a "judgement call", but it was not unreasonable. The withdrawal of the original permission was done hastily, without any attempt to become familiar with the proposed flight operation or the relevant regulations in advance, in a manner that seemed almost calculated to inflict the maximum possible disruption and damage to a popular event.
Actions of this type are extremely harmful to the mutual respect and trust that should exist between the FAA and the aviation community. I hope the FAA will investigate this matter seriously.