Young Boy Trapped in Homemade Aircraft

UPDATE: Police are reportedly looking for a box that was attached to the bottom of the balloon -- a box Falcon's brother says he saw him go into before it took off.

UPDATE:
Police are currently conducting a ground search for the boy.

Balloon landing: Click to watch
UPDATE: We just heard on a police scanner that the boy is not inside the balloon. The balloon was in the air for over two hours -- no one knows where the boy is. Cops say they checked the house, and an area where people reported seeing something fall out of the balloon ... nada.

UPDATE: The balloon landed around 40 miles from where it started. It landed well.

A 6-year-old boy somehow climbed inside a homemade, helium-powered aircraft in Ft. Collins, Colorado -- and now the craft is careening out of control with the boy stuck inside.

The Larimer County Sheriff's Office says the 6-year-old boy's family was building an experimental aircraft which had a large helium balloon attached to it at their home on Fossil Ridge Road in Fort Collins, this according KDVR in Denver.

The family told officials the boy got onto the aircraft and was able to untie the rope that held the aircraft in place. The device -- which is 20 feet long -- has the potential to rise to 10,000 feet.

The Larimer County Emergency Manager says, "The structure at the bottom of the craft (where the boy is stuck) is made of extremely thin plywood and won't withstand any kind of crash at all."

Story developing...



Tags: balloon, falcon heene, falcon heeve, FalconHeene, FalconHeeve, wife swap, WifeSwap

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Reader Comments

(Page 1 of 12) | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Most Recent | Next 15 Comments

1. scary :(

Posted at 2:51PM on Oct 15th 2009 by linds

2. UP!

Posted at 2:51PM on Oct 15th 2009 by yup

3. how does anyone know a boy is in there?? also, how the hell did he climb in there?? where were his parents or whoever was watching him!?!? thats insane!!!

Posted at 2:57PM on Oct 15th 2009 by jen

4. I'm usually a junkie for breaking news, but this is sickeningly horrifying. I can't watch.

Posted at 2:52PM on Oct 15th 2009 by Pdbmh

5. poor kid

Posted at 2:51PM on Oct 15th 2009 by wow

6. omg that poor kid.

Posted at 2:52PM on Oct 15th 2009 by Ashley

7. First! Did someone order some old style stove top pop jiffy popcorn??????????

Posted at 2:52PM on Oct 15th 2009 by jimmy

8. Poor Kid. His parents should be arrested!

Posted at 2:54PM on Oct 15th 2009 by John

9. That must be terrifying. A horrible problem, I hope they get that kid

Posted at 2:52PM on Oct 15th 2009 by jazz

10. Why don't they get Jon Gosselin to help... he knows all about hot air.

Posted at 2:53PM on Oct 15th 2009 by AJ

11. HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA Lol!! Fly Away Lil Boi Fly!

Posted at 2:53PM on Oct 15th 2009 by mikey

12. You are sick jimmy, what if this happenned to your child or something. They need to get some Air Force Paratroopers up there now.

Posted at 2:55PM on Oct 15th 2009 by Andrew

13. Worst camera work ever...

Posted at 2:57PM on Oct 15th 2009 by Neil

14. Thats why kids need spankings!!! If he was being diciplined he woulnt have dared. I hope he makes it out fine and learns a huge lesson. When i was a kid i wouldnt have dared to have tried anything crazy.

Posted at 2:58PM on Oct 15th 2009 by Chrissy

15. No joke - this is not good.

Posted at 2:58PM on Oct 15th 2009 by eloc

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