Lawsuit for Balloon Overflights

Palmpilot

Palmpilot

Touchdown! Greaser!
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Richard Palm
www.fredericknewspost.com

Trial nears for hot-air balloon lawsuit; couple alleges trespass via airspace

A Frederick County couple is accusing a hot-air balloon company and its owner of invading their privacy and trespassing through their property’s airspace, raising concerns among hot-air balloon pilots and
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"A Frederick County couple is accusing a hot-air balloon company and its owner of invading their privacy and trespassing through their property’s airspace, raising concerns among hot-air balloon pilots and enthusiasts."
 
An attorney discusses the case:

 
How low would you have to be to really be "trespassing"? Can I sue the airlines for invading my privacy by flying over my house? Someone might have high-powered binoculars, you know.
 
As I understand it, the flight path of a balloon is limited by the winds available at different altitudes.
 
Not a lawyer, but IIRC the FAA "controls" airspace 500 foot AGL* and above.

*Defined as the greatest height of any structure on property.

Anyone can sue anyone for anything. And anyone sued can then counter-sue. Geeze, it's almost like a bunch of lawyers wrote the rules.
 
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Judge rules in favor of hot-air balloon company after plaintiffs, with no attorney, end case

A judge on Monday ruled in favor of a hot-air balloon company and its owner in a lawsuit, after a Union Bridge couple who sued said they would not move
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Excerpts:

A judge on Monday ruled in favor of a hot-air balloon company and its owner in a lawsuit, after a Union Bridge couple who sued said they would not move forward with a jury trial without an attorney.​
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The couple, Susan Maharaj and Erich Blatter, asked Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge Rachel McGuckian, who presided over the case in Frederick County, to postpone the trial.​
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This was the third time Maharaj and Blatter were asking a judge to postpone a trial after their attorney, Jacob Weddle, asked to withdraw from the case on Christmas Eve....​
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[Judge] McGuckian denied the request [to postpone the trial], stating that the case had drawn on for three years due to several postponements already, that two judges already denied a postponement, and that the couple approved Weddle’s withdrawal. There were no grounds for postponement, McGuckian said.​

Sounds like the plaintiffs and their attorney had irreconcilable differences.
 
I want to know how this even made it this far that it was about to go to trial.
 
Well, with the FAA controlling UAS operations and limiting most Part107 drone operators to below 400ft AGL. I would say the FAA rules the airspace from your roofline up. I don't think the FAA has established minimum flight over land, just over people.
253point9 said:
Not a lawyer, but IIRC the FAA "controls" airspace 500 foot AGL* and above.

*Defined as the greatest height of any structure on property.

Anyone can sue anyone for anything. And anyone sued can then counter-sue. Geeze, it's almost like a bunch of lawyers wrote the rules.
Click to expand...
 
There was a hot air balloon that would launch from a field across the street from my congregation, very early on a Sunday morning. The prevailing winds almost always took it directly over the church. A couple of times I delayed the start of service so everyone, especially the kids in Sunday School kids, could watch it. On one launch, he had a problem and whacked the cross on top of the bell tower, bending it over about 20 degrees. He had a crew there waiting for service to end so they could climb up and fix it. For a few years he would tether the balloon in the parking lot for church events.
 
oh it gets better, do some reasearch on this. then let your congressperson that this has got to be stopped.
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Those nitwits should be liable for the balloon companies legal expenses.
 
The balloon operator suggested that the attorney who made the YouTube commentary above contact the attorney who represented him in the lawsuit, to get additional information. I found the additional details interesting.

 
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Claims were over inflated to begin with ...
 
I heard the plaintiffs made all their calls using burner phones, and their attorney kept notes on an envelope.
 
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