McHenry County-area hot air balloon operators confident in safety of rides

HARVARD – Organizers of the inaugural Harvard Balloon Fest are prepared to host about 10,000 people a day Labor Day weekend at Milky Way Park.

While some have questioned the safety of hot air balloon rides in light of the recent fatal crash in central Texas, event organizers and McHenry County-area balloon pilots and crew chiefs are confident in the safety of the aircrafts.

“I’m very confident it will be safe,” Harvard alderman and festival chairman Mike Kelly said. “Balloon maestro John Trione has final authority as to whether launches will actually happen, and it’s all based on weather and safety issues.”

[ Harvard Balloon Fest expected to draw thousands (with schedule) ]

The National Transportation Safety Board said at least 16 people died July 30 in a hot air balloon crash in central Texas – the worst such disaster in U.S. history.

There has been one balloon crash reported in Illinois in the past 10 years where one person was seriously injured, according to data from the NTSB.

Trione, chief pilot and owner of Lake Geneva Balloon Company, said the most important factors in hot air balloon safety are having good weather, knowledge of the local area and a pilot who makes sound decisions.

Sometimes, that means disappointing people by canceling rides if weather conditions are not ideal, he said.

“I think our biggest challenge right now is making people understand what we are doing,” Trione said, adding he tells his customers to expect five to six cancellations before flying.

Gordon Schwontkowski, Cary resident and crew chief for Sedona Sunset Ballooning, said he has a checklist of about 40 items he looks at for the launch, flight and landing.

Schwontkowski works with owner and pilot of Sedona Sunset Ballooning Glenn O'Connell, who flies around the area of Crystal Lake, Cary and Fox River Grove.

Before any flight, pilots are required to call in to a Federal Aviation Administration-approved weather service to get a weather briefing, Schwontkowski said. If they’re flying in an unfamiliar area, pilots will reach out to local pilots to see if there are any obstructions to be aware of.

Although Schwontkowski is not a pilot himself, he is a safety instructor who’s taught more than 150 seminars nationwide. He’s also the author of Hot Air Balloon Crewing Essentials, and contributed to the FAA’s Balloon Flying Handbook.

“I saw that there’s a lot bigger picture to safety than just what the pilots do, and I went into the crew side of safety” about 35 years ago, Schwontkowski said. “Today I help nationally shape the safety culture and some of the regulations as well – only for ballooning.”

As O’Connell is in the air, Schwontkowski follows along in his truck on the ground, monitoring weather, landing spots and communicating with O’Connell.

“The big takeaway from ballooning ... we’re federally regulated pilots with federally registered aircrafts. There’s no getting away from that,” Schwontkowski said.

O’Connell said it takes about a year to be an FAA-licensed hot air balloon pilot, and students have to undergo training, including oral and written tests, flight tests and logging flight hours.

To obtain a commercial license and take paying customers into the air, hot air balloon pilots have to undergo even more training, O’Connell said.

Balloons also have to be made to FAA standards, and go through a three- to four-hour inspection every year or every 100 flight hours, he said.

“Everybody’s got the same qualifications, I really just think it’s on the pilot themselves” when it comes to safety, O’Connell said.

O’Connell said every pilot sets his or her own standards as to whether it’s appropriate to fly. For his company, ground winds should be between 5 and 7 mph, there should be no precipitation within 75 miles of the flight path, visibility should be 6 miles or greater and clouds should be at 3,000 feet or above.

If he’s too tired or stressed, O’Connell won’t fly, he said.

Riders can stay safe by finding a company through the Balloon Federation of America, listening to the pilot and crew chief and asking questions if something doesn't look right, O'Connell and Schwontkowski said.

Both will be working the Harvard fest's tethered and non-tethered rides.

“For a lot of people, it’s a one-time thing. It’s a curiosity or a bucket list item.” Schwontkowski said. “To be able to take them safely through that, it is pretty amazing.”