Hot air balloon clips radio tower, causes collapse in North Valley

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – A hot air balloon caused KKOB’s radio tower to collapse in Albuquerque’s North Valley Friday morning, according to Bernalillo County Fire Rescue (BCFR)

Fire crews were called out to the scene at 10511 2nd Street NW near Diers Road NW after the balloon hit the tower around 8:45 a.m. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said the balloon collided with the tower shortly after launching from Balloon Fiesta Park.

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Three people were on board and were able to safely land in the balloon, according to the FAA and BCFR. No one was injured in the incident, BCFR added.

A Balloon Fiesta spokesperson confirmed that balloon banner #028 clipped one of the two radio towers located west of Balloon Fiesta Park.

Cumulus Broadcasting, which owns KKOB, engineers are assessing the second tower, the Balloon Fiesta spokesperson said. The downed tower forced News Radio 770 KKOB AM off the air.

The FAA said they will investigate the incident and expect to release a preliminary accident/incident report in the coming days.

KRQE News 13 has a crew on the scene. This is a developing story, check back for updates.

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