Balloon crash survivor going back up

The hot-air balloon pilot who survived a 9,500-foot fall in Anderson last year said recently he will launch his new balloon, Lucky Trails, in Michigan this weekend in what he said will be his first competitive flight since the horrific plunge.

“That’s the first time I’ve ever had anything like that happen,” Chuck Walz said in a phone interview with The Greenville News. “I pray to God nothing like that ever happens again.”

Dozens of onlookers watched in horror last Labor Day weekend as Walz’s balloon, Little Trails, plunged from the sky and hit a tree that rescuers credited with saving his life. A firefighter who witnessed the drop said the limp balloon and basket looked like “a rock on a shoestring.”

Walz, who lives in Munith, Mich., and has hundreds of hours’ flying experience, said he was still on crutches in January when he got back into a balloon for the first time.
On that first ride, a noise made him jumpy, he said.

“I won’t deny the fact that I was nervous. I’m still nervous,” said Walz, an engineer with the Jackson County Road Commission.

Walz said put aside the crutches about three months ago and has since been up in a balloon by himself.

Walz said he will pass on competing in this year’s U.S. National Hot Air Balloon Championship, even though the contest will be in Marshall, Mich. — practically his backyard.

It was during last year’s championship — held in Anderson — that he crashed.
“I’m not going to compete because that would be stuck in the back of my mind,” Walz said.

The Great Southeast Balloon Fest, which was being held at the same time as the championship, won’t be back this year. But it has nothing to do with Walz’s crash, said Dan Stukas, who was balloon meister at last year’s festival.

“It’s directly related to money,” Stukas said.

A group of balloonists is trying to put together a smaller event for downtown Anderson in July called the Electric City Hot Air Affair, he said.

Walz said he remains confident that flying balloons is safe and encourages those who have never been up to give it a try.

He said he’s still in touch with some of the Upstate residents who helped him and his family in the aftermath of the crash and would like to return to the area to personally thank them.

“I think everybody would be amazed to see how I walk and how I’m getting around,” Walz said.

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