<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=0w2FHP_0wCKQI9v00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=0w2FHP_0wCKQI9v00" width="630" height="420" ></figure>ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico: Four accidents marred this year's 52nd Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta before ending with a drone show and a flawless mass ascension on October 13. One balloon partially caught fire on October 12 after hitting power lines and landing at a construction site in northwest Albuquerque. Fiesta officials say nobody was injured, and the fire was quickly extinguished.A day earlier, for the second time in 20 years, a balloon pilot with two passengers aboard struck a radio tower and knocked it down west of Balloon Fiesta Park.The radio station was off the air till the next day but the pilot and passengers were uninjured in the crash and landed safely.Two days before that, one person suffered a head injury when a balloon struck a large tree while trying to land at a golf course. The gondola was stuck 25 feet (7.6 meters) above ground, and the other two people aboard the balloon had to be rescued.Then, on October 8, a balloon bumped into a power line in Albuquerque, leaving nearly 13,000 customers without power for almost an hour.Fiesta spokesman Tom Garrity said in a statement, quoted by The Associated Press, "It concerns us when balloon flights don't go as planned. Safe flights are our primary goal, so any accident is too many."The nine-day balloon fiesta is one of the world's most photographed events, drawing hundreds of thousands of spectators each fall to New Mexico to see the more than 100 balloons in bright colors and special shapes.</div></body>

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52nd Albuquerque balloon fiesta didn't take off as expected

ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico: Four accidents marred this year's 52nd Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta before ending with a drone show and a flawless mass ascension on October 13. One balloon partially caught fire on October 12 after hitting power lines and landing at a construction site in northwest Albuquerque. Fiesta officials...