Balloonist Dangles Below Basket After Balloon Bounced Off Ground | Brian Boland Case Analysis 

There isn't enough money in the world to pay me to get into a hot air balloon.

Not Dr Grande releasing a video about this when I just booked my hotel for the Albuquerque balloon festival in October 😂 Noooooooo!

The only time I have ever been in a balloon was with him. He told some unbelievable balloon stories like Flying a balloon at 200 knot ground speed over th Eiger. He was a character.

"Most balloon pilots agree that being in the basket is the optimal position for the continued safe operation of the aircraft." LOL! Funny, but also not that funny.

It is surreal to see a Dr. Grande episode set in my backyard. I live in the Post Mills area, my father-in-law piloted out of that airport for 20-something years, and my husband and I went up in Brian's balloon on a date early in our courtship. When our son was little, we used to take him to see the balloons and the museum.

Thank you again Dr. Grande 🙏 It's hard not to respect such an eccentric artist. That museum was so crafty. I'm sorry to hear of this tragedy and that the innocent also paid for this man's mistake. I'm sure that in his last moments he was as horrifically surprised as his passengers.

Dr., my wife and I look forward to your coverage and humor each day. Thank you.

Oh my goodness I was laughing and wondering how on Earth you kept a straight face during your droll description of the first crash..then the smile was wiped off my face by suspense and horror. Thrilling story of how physics won't forgive absent mindedness. Thanks for the video ❤

Parts of the story sound like a Road Runner cartoon, parts of it don't. The passengers were really lucky to get out alive.

Brian Boland sounds like an interesting eccentric ("a real character", as people say). If I understood right, his fateful final flight was his first time back in the sky after his health problems (I live near Vermont and wouldn't mind checking out those giant sculptures one day; I wonder if they are still viewable?) Thanks, as always, Dr. Grande!

I'm so glad I found your channel, with that said. Brian did not adhere to rule number one of safety, Check for all essential tools, then check again or have someone else check again

Thank god that kid survived , it’s tough to hear these stories with child victims

I've had many opportunities to go up in balloons, I've just never been attracted to them. The photos are stunning, just have never wanted to do it.

This is a sad story of Brian Boland who died doing what he loved doing most. Thank you Dr. Grande for giving weight to a story that needed a good bounce.

I really enjoy hearing true stories on this channel. Interesting how Dr. Todd tells the story about Brian, truly a visionary and pioneer in ballooning. A lot of influencers don’t focus on the analysis, instead only on the terrible accident.

This one breaks my heart, at the same time is kind of poetic.

Sad that someone with so much experience was so unprepared.

Ok but he stopped people from helping him because he didn't want to risk everyone else life for him, I respect that

I agree completely in that the pilot is best served in the basket instead of dangling from the outside. Being inside the baskets tends to increase your odds of survival.

I think it would be amazing to experience a ride on a hot air balloon. It's just so sad to hear such a heartbreaking story. 😢😢😢

My aunt & uncle had a small hot air balloon company for several years. They flew regularly in a New Mexico festival. I only flew with them once, and it was a lovely experience (except for helping to blow up the balloons before hand, because that made me throw up. The vibrations of the large fans used did not sit well with breakfast. Lol). I can definitely appreciate why someone would want to do that; except for the roar of the (controlled) fire, it’s very peaceful. They never had any accidents, fortunately.

I feel bad thinking about him folding his arms in front of himself and falling, looking up at the balloon as he fell. I wonder why the people on board didn’t try to pull him back in the basket? Or did they, but couldn’t?

He sounds like he was a lovely person. This is so sad.

Brian Bolland was a great comic book artist 👩🏻‍🎨

Well, I'd say that was a ride straight out of a nightmare. First, the igniter not being found would be enough to panic all aboard but then the ensuing events are just unphathomable. Just thinking of him hanging from the basket gives me chills. I bet the survivors will likely avoid ever getting into another hot air balloon. Thank you for another interesting case, Dr. Grande. And for giving me a reason to NEVER go on a balloon ride.😂❤ I actually never would've anyways, this just reiterates why I wont.

To add to his eccentricity the part of his airfield that had the vermontasaurus was open to the public and those barns he had were actually a museum of a lot of really cool oddities he collected over the years. He gave me a tour not long before he passed miss him he was really cool

I was going to relate my own experience crashing in a balloon with 10 other people, piloted by a young man who was filling in for his uncle, who chose to pilot another balloon. But, poor Brian...

Doc, you’re killing me with that lead balloon line at the end!😂😂😂 I was just winding down with the ending thinking about my next video and then you said that and it made me do a spit-take with the water I was drinking at the time!

Sad story for sure. Balloons are fun but can be dangerous as many factors involved, esp when changing the design. Great points again. Thanks Dr G😊💙💜

Since 2000, one person per year on average has died in a hot air balloon accident. This incident was unusual in that it did not involve crashing into power lines and exploding into flames ... It is interesting that only 0.07% of hot air balloon accidents in the US involve a fatality.

Yeah dude, you can't be fucking around and going "ah shucks what did I do with that blasted ignitor", when you're hundreds of feet in the air with passengers.

Dr Grande, I am not an intellectual, but I enjoy your videos tremendously. I love your dry sense of humour, telling the joke without flinching😂. I would love to see behind the scenes footage 🤭

Did the first passenger who fell out get injured?

Once again, thank you DR Grande for a very informative straight forward video. ❤️

I would say his hyperinflated Ego Deflated, leading to his Downfall. A sad end to his High Times 😢

My aunt saw this happen from the ground. She saw him fall from the balloon.

Dr Grande is a straight up savage 😂

Great story, Dr G. As always. But, maybe I missed it… how was grandma? I’m sure you would have mentioned if she was severely injured. Here’s hoping she was ok

Balloon..."under the weather". Doc you're just killing it😅😂😅!

Please cover the cases of Susan Powell, Anthony sowell, Nicholas barclay

Dr. Grande lays in the humor so nonchalantly and matter of fact.

So many stories, so little time! ❤ Thanks, Grande, for all the interesting and informative analyses! ❤ We appreciate your work.❤

Wow I've never been this early 😊 love your videos, Dr. Grande!

At first the story was uplifting. Hot air balloons fascinate me. Many times balloonists have gone right over my house, so low we can shout to each other. But my heart got heavy when I saw how delicate the airship can be when one is not prepared. I think it is safer to piece together a puzzle than a hot air balloon. Thanks Dr. Grande.

Thank you for another great video and we love your humor!!💕

Brian Bolans brilliant balloon became unbalanced , baffling both Brian and the passengers aboard Brian’s balloon. Before he knew it, Brian became basically besieged between the balloon and the brush below. Brian blooped from the balloon but became unbalanced and his grip was broken.

Woo! Thanks again DG!

Dr Grande: I am hopelessly "addicted" to your channel!🎉

Thanks, Doc❤❤❤

"He combined them with other junk" 😆

7:23 I can’t even believe what I’m hearing. Terrifying.

Interesting story Dr. Grande, but your dry sense of balloon humor had me rolling with this video. You crack me up!

Yes. Another story about physics. At my high school, the word was out. “If you take physics, bring lots of paper.”

I must admit, Dr. Grande, I do not find this horrible tragedy something to make fun of. 😢😢😢

"...his head in the clouds"~ Dr. Grande, before the 2 min mark. This is going to be a good one, pun-wise.

I've always wanted to ride in one of those balloons. Years ago, one landed on the golf course I worked at, it touched down perfectly, like a feather.

Always interesting Thank you❤

1) Don't be corpulant and/or have a backup person if you're too old to handle the duties. 2) Make sure you can do a pull-up. 3) Have a step or ballast rigging on the basket that can be used for support

How can you save guys like this? Stubbornness is seriously life threatening.

Sad. I wonder if he had life insurance and what the premiums for people dangling in baskets with flaming propane burners beneath a gaseous bag hundreds of feet in the air ?

How unfortunate for this man and the passengers. And. how sad that the world lost one of it's more creative characters.

Dr Grande, Brian Boland had a lot in common with Stockton Rush. Thank you and love from Canada.

I took a short balloon flight at a county fair in Texas when I was in high school and loved every second of it. This story is horrifying and heartbreaking.

The five hazardous attitudes of/in aviation: Anti-authority, Impulsivity, Invulnerability, Macho, and Resignation

This story brings new meaning to the phrase, “Does anyone have a light?”😮

Thank you, Dr. Todd Grande. My best to you & your family & your adorable dogs.⭐💓🐕🐕

Just before my girls and I went up in a hot air balloon, we were tasked with spreading out, opening up, and holding the fabric as it was being filled with hot air. At that time, I noticed that there were upper and lower tubular metal racks at the top and the bottom of the wicker basket in which we were to stand. There were also thick and thin canes that ran perpendicular to the metal racks and wicker handles were woven into the outside for carrying the basket and handles woven into the inside for passengers to hang onto with gas tanks lining the basket's interior. The reason I believe that wicker is used for the basket is to provide a natural cushion for landing on the ground, because that is what we experienced. Even though it was a soft landing, the basket had a tendency to bounce. Because the second igniter was not found immediately in the Brian Boland case, he and his passengers in his hot air balloon dropped to the ground precipitously on an inclined slope, hit the ground hard, and bounced him and an adult passenger out of the basket. Unfortunately, while she fell clear, he did not because as he fell head first over the side one of his feet got caught entangled between the top metal rack and the wicker wall of the basket as the impact opened the gap between the metal rack and the wicker wall. This gap would have tightened back up as the balloon re-ascended. This would have been much like how Chinese finger cuffs trap their victims' digits. Even if he would have tried to get loose with the help of the remaining adult passengers, their combined weight at the edge where he was trapped would have tightened the trap further. The only way out would have been for them to shift their weight to the other side to loosen the trap around his foot as he pulled himself up, while simultaneously removing his shod foot. With his age, physical condition of being overweight, and his poor health being at issue, that was impossible.

He looks like Oddball from Kelly's Heroes.

I think because he flew so soon after his surgery and medical problems, maybe he didn’t do his safety checks like normal. He probably shouldn’t have flown so soon, good that at least his passengers landed safely but I’m sure they were very frightened.

Thanks for the presentation and analysis. Through a couple degrees of separation, I know this guy.

Can you analyze the case of Paul Bernardo and Karla homolka. The ken and barbie killers

I like your whole setup you got there.

@1:36 Technically not a pilot and certainly not sending any negative wavs, Dr. Grande. More Cacti! Need an instumental for that stage.

He was wonderfully eccentric and this is very sad.

Fascinating story

I feel so called out by the "creative little don't like following rules" bit 😅😅😅. This was really sad, and unfortunately high sensation seekers will forego safety measures quite often.

Excellent video AFTER-BURNER

lol!! I learn so much watching Dr.Grande!! So Stay In the Basket!! Got it!!

I expected a bodacious boatload of B alliterations! I mean the guys name has the initials BB! 😮

could Dr Grande please analize the cases described in the last Shrouded hand video? about mirrors, delusions of insects and the Truman Show syndrome? A look from the doctor's side would be so interesting, thank you

As I listened to this story, I hoped the end would be happy. I was rooting for it. Even though I already knew that since Dr. Grande was narrating it, the likelihood would be what happened could not have ended welll.

How sad! 😢

I'm found myself almost missing the story waiting for all of Dr. Grande's puns. 😂

Good morning Dr Grande, it's 6.45 am Wednesday 17th January here and I'm sipping coffee watching you xoxox

OH MY GOSH!!! I just saw you on “Who the Bleep Did I Marry”! You were fantastic! Great job Doc! I’ve watched u for years this was so neat!

Lost my friend Natalie Lewis in May 2014 in a Richmond, Virginia hot air balloon crash. The balloon hit power lines. She was only 24 and died from burning to death. The pilot and her friend Ginny jumped to their deaths. Natalie was beautiful, engaged and had so much life ahead. I’ll never get on a hot air balloon. Ever.

That he still retained a 'business' licence to fly with something that can go up in flames, literally is a wonder in itself I guess.

If you were meant to fly you would have been born with wings

Without knowing Brian personally I wonder if he was the type of person who gravitated toward fringe pursuits in order to become an expert in the artistic way to fly balloons field- that didn’t need one. It may have been his way of overcoming his introversion. He could gain recognition without having to interact with anyone in a competitive way. It reminds me of Norman bates and his taxidermy decorated motel. I would encourage anyone to pursue their creative talents but there are other people we are responsible for in this world and that needs to come first

So dangerous, I just don't get it.

What goes up must come down...what a horrible avoidable disaster.

I am not a balloon pilot but I can work out that as soon as there is any kind of gear failure you need to get the balloon down properly. Obviously a back up igniter should be attached to the pilot light.

Here's a nice balloon joke. A man is flying in a hot air balloon and realizes he is lost. He reduces height and spots a man down below. He lowers the balloon further and shouts: "Excuse me, can you help me? I promised my friend. I would meet him half an hour ago, but I don't know where I am." The man below says, "Yes, you are in a hot air balloon, hovering approximately 30 feet above this field. You are between 40 and 42 degrees North latitude, and between 58 and 60 degrees West longitude." "You must be a programmer," says the balloonist. "I am," replies the man. "How did you know?" "Well," says the balloonist, "everything you have told me is technically correct, but I have no idea what to make of your information, and the fact is I am still lost." The man below says, "You must be a project manager" "I am," replies the balloonist, "but how did you know?" "Well," says the man, "you don't know where you are or where you are going. You have made a promise which you have no idea how to keep, and you expect me to solve your problem. The fact is you are in the exact same position you were in before we met, but now it is somehow my fault."

wow- crazy story-!

From 1988 to 2001 I was a full-time scenic tour hot air balloon pilot. Most of my flying was in San Diego, but I also flew in Napa, Arizona, New Mexico, Puerto Vallarta, France, Austria, Italy and over the Swiss Alps. I recall one flight in San Diego where the burner pilot light went out, and I had to re-ignite the single burner quickly, and keep the auxiliary burner system on to act as a pilot light (which made a fair amount of noise and absolutely terrified the passengers). As i recall, I was the only balloon pilot who used checklists in my travels. It is not required, but they help overcome complacency from experience. The igniter is called a "striker" and the type I used had three flints built into it... so if one wore down, you could rotate the flint holder and immediately be back in action. I always had one in my pocket at all times, along with two spares in my flight bag (which most pilots did not carry aboard), and there were two more stashed in a pouch in the basket. Modern burners have an igniter built in. Though I mourn his death, Brian Boland died from his own recklessness, which also endangered his passengers, so I have little sympathy for him. Despite hot air balloons being statistically the safest form of aviation, there are a great many factors that can escalate an unexpected event into an emergency. The unexpected can happen and very fast, so being prepared for the worst is just one step in mitigating the challenges of commercial flying. Brian was a pioneer, and passionate about flight. He unfortunately also was a fool.

This really sounds like the balloon version of Oceangate. But less tragic in comparison.

Doc -- I was surprised to catch a glimpse of you on a network TV channel & hope you don't suddenly announce that you'll be going all Dr Phil on us --- I think I speak for many when I implore with all sincerity , "please sir --- stay as you are."

A hot air balloon is unique from all other forms of flight in that there is no sensation of motion or perception of height. The feeling is one of peace and tranquility as you watch the Earth slowly descend, and rotate below you.

Procrastination with Propane propels pilot and passengers into panicky plunge, proving plummets can promptly produce an upchuck.

What exactly was the reason why no attempt was made to pull him back into the balloon?