Pre-photographic pictures of hot air balloon accidents show the perils of late modernity

Falling to your death was a strong possibility

Jules Duruof and his wife being rescued at sea from the sinking basket of their balloon “Le Tricolore” which lost altitude over the North Sea off the coast of England in 1870. Print by Charles Leduc, 1831–1911. (Tissandier Collection/Library of Congress)

In the jet age, hot air balloons still hold a mystique that is hard to reconcile with their menace. A romantic throwback to pre-mechanical flight, ballooning is also a reminder of man’s arrogant fragility in the face of nature—specifically gravity. Horrendous ballooning accidents still routinely deliver devastating losses of life, yet there is no shortage of weekend warriors lining up for sunrise mimosas over Sonoma. Who were the fools that decided floating thousands of feet above earth in a wicker basket would ever be a good idea?

Well, the French pioneered most of the early experiments in the late 18th century, beginning with Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier, who in 1783 became the first to complete an unmanned, untethered flight. The five-mile long, 500-foot high trip took the aviator only 20 minutes and convinced the world of the new technology’s potential. Two years later, French inventor Jean-Pierre Blanchard made the first long distance air journey across the English Channel. Not to be outdone, Rozier attempted the same crossing using a newly designed hydrogen balloon, which was safer and more efficient than previous models. The balloon failed near Calais, and he plummeted 1,500 feet to his death.

But the carnage was far from over. With Rozier out of the way, Blanchard would go on to set many ballooning records, including the first American flight in 1793, which launched from inside the Walnut Street Jail in Philadelphia and was witnessed by George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and James Monroe. In 1809, Blanchard fell from his balloon after a heart attack, and died a year later from his injuries. His young wife Sophie would carry the torch for another two decades, flying and exhibiting balloons throughout Europe until an ill-fated attempt to ignite fireworks over Paris engulfed her apparatus in flames before hurtling to the street in front of a large audience at Tivoli Gardens in 1819.

In total, Madame Blanchard had made 67 balloon ascents in her career. She is said to have remained calm during her final descent.

The death of Sophie Blanchard in 1819. (Wikimedia)

Drawing depicts Jules Duruof, Gaston Tissandier, and another man in the balloon “Neptune” making a difficult landing on the cliffs off Cape Gris-Nez, France, in 1868. In the foreground, two shepherdesses and their flock of sheep flee the approach of the balloon. (Tissandier Collection/Library of Congress)

(left) Deaths of Rozier and Romain. | (right) Émile-Antoine Bayard’s illustration for Jules Verne’s 1851 short story, “A Drama In The Air.” (Wikimedia)

Journalist Joseph Crocé-Spinelli, naval officer Henri Sivel, and Gaston Tissandier in the basket of the balloon, “Zénith,” after losing consciousness due to lack of oxygen at an altitude of nearly 28,000 feet. paris, April, 1875. (Tissandier Collection/Library of Congress)

1890 collectable cards with pictures of important events in ballooning history from 1795 to 1846. (Tissandier Collection/Library of Congress)

The death of balloonists Jean-François Pilatre de Rozier and Jules Romain. Their balloon crash near on June 15, 1785 is considered the first aerial disaster. (Tissandier Collection/Library of Congress)

An 1870 cartoon shows a theatrical performer on an outdoor stage shooting at a balloon, labeled “L’opinion,” as a man leaps from the basket and a woman clings to a rope below the basket. (Tissandier Collection/Library of Congress)

Two cartoons ridicule the attempt of Abbé Miollan and Jean-François Janinet to ascend in a hot air balloon by showing the balloon on fire and billowing smoke while being inflated on July 11, 1784 at the Luxembourg gardens in Paris. On the left, a woman (Physics personified) is whipping the bare bottom of Janinet as an ass as he attempts to put out the flames. On the right, a cat (Abbé Miollan) is taken into custody by the Swiss Guard. Many upset spectators surround the balloon. 1784. (Tissandier Collection/Library of Congress)

In 1863 the prominent French balloonist Eugène Godard was commissioned to construct an enormous, 196 foot high balloon named “Le Géant.” The balloon was badly damaged during its second flight in Hanover. (Wikimedia)

A balloon launched by the Montgolfier brothers ascending from the Palace of Versailles for the royal family on September 19, 1783. A sheep, a duck and a rooster were the only passengers aboard the first balloon flight. (Tissandier Collection/Library of Congress)

Print shows the second trial by Dr. John Sheldon, anatomist, to launch a balloon at Lord Foley’s grounds in Portland Place, London, which resulted in the balloon’s destruction by fire in 1784. (Tissandier Collection/Library of Congress)