Albuquerque –
Around 8:55 AM, a call came into 911 about a balloon crashing into the KKOB radio tower near 2nd St NW and Diers Rd. NW. The exact address is 10511 2ND ST NW. Twenty years ago on Thursday, the Smokey Bear balloon also crashed into this tower.
The balloonists that hit the tower are okay. They told the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO) and Albuquerque Fire Rescue (AFR) that they were not injured and they were refusing transport to the hospital.
Based on what we’ve heard so far, though the information could change as the radio reports were conflicting, it seems that at least one tower has been damaged and one collapsed. Early radio traffic and calls into authorities have said one tower had collapsed. However, when an AFR unit first arrived on scene, they said they only observed one power line down. Another AFR unit arrived and reported finding a collapsed tower. This unit requested that BCSO setup a perimeter around the tower. The second tower that had the damaged line was deemed to be stable and AFR is not going to evacuate homes at this time.
KKOB radio owns the towers and has shut everything off, resulting in KKOB being knocked off the air on the AM airwaves. KKOB is still available on the FM dial. PNM is also on scene.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and New Mexico State Police (NMSP) will handle the investigation of the crash.
We have a reporter headed to the scene and we will update you when we learn more.
Towards the very end of the video you can see the tower collapse.
I’ll bet the taxpayers will foot the bill for this rather than the responsible party.
Aeolus’ feet really need to be held to the fire on this one.
Oops. A late comment. The two towers, the taller of which crashed, are not owned by KKOB. The station sold them a few years ago to Vertical Bridge, which leases them back to KKOB. So any settlements from the balloon accident will be with Vertical Bridge. They can be found at verticalbridge.com.