It was a balloon joke that the brothers may have carried out.

[Are_grits_groceries]

<snip>
The details were still a bit sketchy about how the helium balloon that Mr. Heene built actually left the backyard. It appeared there might have been a bit of collusion among the Heene brothers. Bradford, at 10 the oldest of the three brothers, was the one who told the family that Falcon has crawled into the helium balloon and had taken off.

Mr. Heene said of Bradford: “He was adamant about it, he was jumping up and down.” Mr. Heene said that he then immediately called the Federal Aviation Administration.
<snip>
http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/15/6-year-old-alone-in-hot-air-balloon-over-colorado/?hp

I started wondering about the brother who said he had seen his sibling go into the balloon box. That was the one that I had a question about.
They should all be in trouble.

[EFerrari]

1. That kid is already in trouble. He has those parents

and he's pissed at his brother. What a mess.

[Enrique]

5. and his name is Falcon n/t

[Ruby the Liberal]

2. Calling the FAA would have been my first thought too.

:wtf:

[SIMPLYB1980]

6. Why not doesn't the FAA track things in the Air?

How would the police do that unless they have eyes on it?

[Ruby the Liberal]

9. 911: How can I help?

Father: My son just accidentally floated off in a helium balloon.

911: Is there communication equipment on the device and have you tried to make communication?

Father: No, it was not designed for human occupancy.

911: We will notify the appropriate authorities via the appropriate channels to coordinate a rescue.

What is the FAA going to do - dispatch the National Guard (as was done) or reroute flights into and out of DIA?

[SIMPLYB1980]

12. I do believe the FAA can get in touch with

other first responders just as well as 911.

[Ruby the Liberal]

13. By calling 911?

;)

[anigbrowl]

16. You are more optimistic than I about the efficiency of 911 despatchers

[stray cat]

7. Do you really think the 911 call would have been productive?

[Ruby the Liberal]

10. See above. What was the FAA going to (or authorized to) do?

[SIMPLYB1980]

14. Track a target in the air and tell police and

rescue squads where to search?

[anigbrowl]

17. FAA can pick up the phone and call the airport and have a meaningful conversation with them

They are actually the appropriate people to call about out-of-control objects floating around in the sky. In this case they were able to start tracking it on radar and divert flights away from the nearby airports, where the balloon posed a risk to other traffic.

[SIMPLYB1980]

18. Facts.

[Ruby the Liberal]

20. "Meaningful conversations" are not rescue operations.

You know - where this was when we thought the boy was on an uncontrollable balloon 8500 feet in the air.

[anigbrowl]

24. Meaningful conversations re how you organize rescue operations

This was an airborne problem. The FAA specialize in exactly this sort of thing; they know who to call and what information to give them, and can probably do so faster than the 911 dispatchers, who rarely have to deal with an airborne situation. Think about it. You think the 911 dispatcher has a direct line to air traffic controllers?

[Ruby the Liberal]

25. I think it was a huge clue that this guy called the FAA as his first reaction.

[anigbrowl]

27. Yes, a clue that he understood who would be coordinating such an operation

Look, you don't design something like this without having some basic knowledge of aviation. And if you have that, then you know what the FAA does. I know more than the average person about why and how the FAA would deal with this just because my best friend is a pilot.

I'm sure the guy who built the balloon knows much more than I do about dealing with the FAA because they're the people you would consult for safety info to begin with if you were building a large balloon, just like hot air balloonists and people who launch weather balloons deal with the FAA. They are the appropriate agency, this is their job.

I don't know why this concept seems so strange to you. If it was an experimental boat I'd call the coast guard before I'd call 911.

[Ruby the Liberal]

19. And by all means, the first priority is diverting air traffic, not a rescue mission?

[anigbrowl]

26. BOTH. What if it was in the path of a commercial flight?

I seriously doubt it would be a good thing to get sucked into a jet engine.

[Ruby the Liberal]

28. I mean no disrespect, but I would think that any reasonable parent

in this position would be more concerned with rescue and getting the balloon safely on the ground.

Of course, I am not a pilot, storm chaser, balloonist, UFO fanatic or parachutist. I will give room (but not much) that the FAA would be the first reaction of people in those lines of interest.

[madmom]

3. HA...I called it.......

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=4104672&mesg_id=4105045

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

8. Got you beat.

Called it before it ever even came down.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=6783423&mesg_id=6783461

[Ruby the Liberal]

11. Congrats to both of you! I wanted you to be right.

I was terrified for that young boy. Tonight I am just pissed. I'm having a hard time with the scared-boy-it-wasn't-a-hoax thing.

[HuckleB]

22. The dad was in on it, too.

[HuckleB]

23. The dad was in on it, too.

[Rick Myers]

4. Why was the thing full of helium...

Ready to fly?

[Peregrine Took]

15. I thought I heard the dad say something about one of the boys had a tape

of the balloon taking off.

Betcha they were doing a utube type video for posting on the 'net and the skit got away from them.

Sounds like Brad was trying to get the parents reaction in on it, too.


Nutty household, in my opinion.

[LisaL]

21. The family went on wife swap twice, I believe.

Now one kid hides, balloon takes off, and the brother according to the father claims the little kid took off in the balloon.