News story:

Balloon Hits Radio Tower As Festival Ends

By LESLIE HOFFMAN

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - A balloon became entangled in a radio tower on the
final day of the city's trademark balloon festival Sunday, forcing the pilot
and two young passengers to shimmy most of the way down the nearly
700-foot-tall structure.

Bill Chapel was piloting the Smokey Bear balloon when it blew into the radio
tower near a park where the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta was being
held.

``All you can do is grit you teeth and hold on to your passengers and prepare
them for the impact,'' he said.

The hot-air balloon's canopy got wrapped up around the triangular-shaped tower,
leaving its gondola resting up against the structure. Chapel, 69, and
passengers Aaron Whitacre, 10, and Troy Wells, 14, then began the long climb
down the tower's ladder.

KKOB-AM shut down its 50,000-watt transmitter and emergency crews gathered at
the base of the tower, said Kathie Leyendecker, festival spokeswoman.