THRILLS IN A BALLOON.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20229, 13 April 1929, Page 2 (Supplement)

THRILLS IN A BALLOON.

A NORTH SEA STORM.

Starting from Bitterfeld, near Leipzig*, for a short inland cruise, three German'' bnlloonists recently had an exciting series of adventures, ending, after a flight across tho North Sea, in a crash into a tree 3r Aberdeenshire. They sustained slight injuries, but were ablo to return to Ger* many by boat. Tho story is full of thrilling cxperf* ences. The airmen had not been long in the air, they related, when a storm arose, and, realising that to attempt tc descend would be dangerous, they decided to trust to fate. They drifted on, and about mid-day were over Holland. Wit" tho wind sweeping them toward the sea their peril became more apparent, and they immediately made an effort _to descend, but their apparatus for releasing the gas failed to work. They left tho coast at a point they believed to be between Calais and Dover, and for almost 12 hours they drifted helplessly northward off' the English coast. Despair overcame the aviators, ana they resigned themselves to whatever fate might have in store for them. They sighted the lights of only one vessel in tho inky blackness below. About three o'clock in the morning hope reawakened when they saw in the distance the lights of a town, which proved to be Aberdeen, but almost as soon as they reached the coast the galo increased in fury, ana mountains loomed up in front of them. They were heading for tho snow-covered Cairngorms. , Several times the machine bumped against hilltops, and then the car of the balloon caught in a tree near a farm on Upper Deeside. The men half fell, hall jumped from the gondola when it struck. One slightly injured his ankle, and another received a black eye and cut his hand. They found ready hospitality at the farm, and a doctor was called to dress their injuries.