• hitstun@feddit.online
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      5 days ago

      It makes the balloon suddenly get one whole person lighter and shoot up in the air. The pilot has to prepare for this by being in a descent when the jumper jumps out. If the jump is unexpected, the balloon will climb so fast that the balloon collapses, deflating and falling out of the sky.

      • Dozzi92@lemmy.world
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        5 days ago

        Wow, so that would be really rude. I would not have thought it could be so big an issue, but I guess now that I think about it, all I know about hot air balloons is sandbags that you just untie and throw off, which totally cannot be how it works, but I probably saw it in a movie as a child. And I weigh at least like five or six bags of sand.

    • horse@feddit.org
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      5 days ago

      As other people have said, it can cause the balloon to collapse, if the pilot doesn’t prepare for it. There’s a video on Youtube where a guy explains why it’s a bad idea after some dude tried to jump out of his balloon (with a parachute) without permission.

      • TheparishofChigwell@sh.itjust.works
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        5 days ago

        I’ve never been in one, but the mass of three other people coupled with the mass of the counterweights and the basket itself must allow for individual exits without that scenario unfolding, surely?

      • JordanZ@lemmy.world
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        5 days ago

        As a skydiver, we jump out of hot air balloons all the time. 3-4 people usually. It’s not a big deal.

        Edit: missing word