Balloon sightings

It was Saturday, February 4, a bright, clear day, albeit cold. High of only 53 degrees Fahrenheit. We had a 30-minute tour scheduled for 2 p.m., the first of the day. I did my preflight briefing, looking at weather and notams. All looked clear. I was going to make sure I had my cabin heat on, and it was shaping up to be a great day of flying.

Just before 2 p.m., I met my passengers. Once on board the Robinson R44 and secured, we took off and began the tour. We were having a great time. I pointed out the Ravenel Bridge, Fort Sumter, Morris Island Lighthouse, Folly Beach, and Kiawah Island.

As I flew over the shoreline, I heard a radio call from the Charleston International Airport (CHS) tower. Thankfully, I have two radios on board so I can monitor both the tower and helicopter air-to-air frequencies. Tower tells me I must land immediately, there is a national emergency, and a temporary flight restriction has been activated. I was at a loss as to what was going on, but ATC was able to clear permission for me to land at the Charleston Executive Airport, where our company has a hangar. I complied, deviated, and cut short my tour, then notified ATC when I landed.

My passengers took everything in stride. I explained what was going on, that ATC had given us a direct order to land, and that if they looked straight ahead, they could see the airport. One of my passengers thought the spy balloon was the reason that the FAA had placed a TFR and ground stop on multiple airports.

Once I shut down, I spoke to my boss on the phone, and he informed me that the TFR became active just before I took off and that it was because of the balloon. Great, I thought. I just broke a TFR. Not only that, my boss was called by the FAA in Washington, D.C., and the police were sent over to our landing zone, and he had to explain to the police that the situation was taken care off and the helicopter no longer was flying. What a mess.

Meanwhile, I walked my passengers over to the FBO and did my best to keep them updated on what was happening. The TFR was only supposed to last for another 20 minutes, but the ground stop was extended two more times ending at 5:15 p.m. It was only 3 p.m. Not wanting my guests to be stranded at the airport, I ordered them an Uber. In 17 minutes, it arrived, and I loaded my guests into the car and waved them off. I stepped back into the FBO, only to learn restrictions had been lifted and I was clear to fly again. I called my boss to let him know that I could fly, but my passengers had just left.

So, what is the moral of the story? One, aviation can be exciting for the most interesting of reasons, but two, and more important, just because you got a briefing earlier in the day does not mean that it will be valid one or two hours later. All this headache could have been avoided, we would have waited for the TFR to clear, my passengers would have had a full tour, my boss wouldn’t have had to talk to police, and I wouldn’t have had to file a NASA report. Update your briefings before takeoff—and maybe look out for spy balloons.