Balloons

When audiences for the new animated Pixar movie "Up" watch a 78-year-old man tie helium balloons to his house to fly away to South America, many might assume the tale is a whimsical bit of fantasy, like a rat who cooks gourmet meals or a trash compactor who falls in love. What moviegoers might not know is that some people have actually tried such a stunt. Sort of. Cluster ballooning, as it's called, is one of the world's loneliest adventure sports, and isn't for the faint of heart.

Irvine is investigating allegations by a former pilot that the Orange County Great Park balloon ride has flouted safety regulations by flying in clouds, low visibility and high wind conditions and deliberately soaring higher than its permit allows. In a letter last week to the Federal Aviation Administration, Jonathan Bradford alleged that a "cavalier disregard" for FAA rules at the tethered balloon ride contributed to a "culture of unsafe behavior."

Irvine has grounded the Orange County Great Park balloon while the Federal Aviation Administration investigates claims by a former pilot that operators of the ride repeatedly ignored safety regulations, the city said Thursday. Irvine has hired an independent investigator to conduct its own review. The last flights were Sunday afternoon, and the decision to suspend operation of the tethered helium balloon was voluntary, said city spokesman Louie Gonzalez.

A proposed ban on helium-filled foil balloons lost altitude in the state Legislature on Wednesday amid growing opposition from florists, party decorators and other professionals. The proposal's chief supporter, Sen. Jack Scott (D-Altadena), withdrew plans for an outright ban and instead proposed a compromise that would reinforce a state law requiring weights and warnings on helium-filled metallic balloons.

On a drizzly December morning, Lee Min-bok kneels on the cold ground near the North Korean border and consults his laptop. He's scanning satellite weather photos to pick just the right spot for his launch. Satisfied, he and a helper grunt as they load 20 large orange helium tanks into a ramshackle van and then head west. The vehicle is so laden with gas containers, the chassis bounces with a sick thud atop its struts at each bump in the road.

Shifting winds caused a hot-air balloon to strike a power line Friday, killing one person and injuring two others. When winds picked up about half an hour after the balloon left from Indio with six people, it crashed and hit the power line about 8 a.m., said Riverside County Fire Department spokesman Patrick Chandler. Three of the passengers were taken to a local hospital, where one was pronounced dead, Chandler said.

The governing board of the Orange County Great Park approved a contractor and pricing Thursday for the park's first attraction, hot-air balloon rides, set to begin July 14. Aerophile, a French balloon manufacturer, was hired to operate the attraction during its first year for $380,000. The balloon, which will be tethered to the ground, will carry at least 25 people to an elevation of 500 feet three times an hour, the park board said. The ride will cost $20 for adults and $13 for children.

The Irvine City Council wrestled Tuesday with how to pay the operating costs of a 75-foot-diameter helium balloon that will hover over the future Great Park and that is projected to run a $500,000 annual deficit. The tethered passenger balloon will rise 500 feet above the old El Toro Marine base for the first time July 14 and will continue to operate four days a week after that, at a cost of $1.6 million a year.

As they float skyward this summer aboard a $5-million tethered helium balloon ride at Irvine's Great Park, passengers on the free attraction might notice some unusual amenities on the ground: * a $300,000 tent -- designed to resemble an airplane hangar -- that costs $75,000 a year to clean; * a four-person visitor center crew hired under a $370,000 annual contract; * a series of orange dots painted along the park's entrance road at a cost of $14,000.

Percy Liles' aged fingers grasped a post for balance as he arched his head back to look at the 75-foot-diameter orange balloon towering over him at the former El Toro Marine base. "Look at that," the 85-year-old retired naval aviator said. "We're in the shadow of the balloon. It's amazing." Saturday marked the inaugural launch of the Great Park Balloon, attended by more than 5,000 people hoping to ride the giant $5-million tethered helium orb.