Come to New Zealand and die

[Berries]

So the guy had THC in his blood and was a habitual user. I didn't see anything in the story that linked that particular factoid to the actual incident. Was he impaired is the question. I doubt very much that he would have got to 1,000 flight hours if he was a habitual user who habitually flew when wasted. Word does tend to get around.

As sad as a crash like this is, I think the OP might have jumped to a conclusion a bit quickly.

[Kickaha]

Half a joint though, I'm a blithering fucken idiot.

You're a blithering fucken idiot before you smoke or drink anything

[Grumph]

Quite frankly waiting to see what the finding of the coroner's court will be, is of more interest.

An "aircraft" that you have fuck-all control over, apart from UP and DOWN, is naturally hazardous. Buggered if I'd get in one.

Quite agree...the bloody things come over us frequently. early AM, you hear the roar of the burners, duck out for a look and there's twenty jap bloody tourists looking at you in your PJ's from about 100 meters up....Give them the cheery fingers and back into the warm...

i'm confidently expecting one to get caught in our trees one day soon - and knowing who owns the local setup, I'll be sueing for plenty....

[skippa1]

You're an idiot with no sense of reality if you honestly believe that first sentence. Secondly, people legally operate motor vehicles on public roads every day under the influence of prescription drugs and/or alcohol. How's that any different?

Quite different but still the same. Impairment is impairment. I'm no happier with those on prescription drugs and/or alcohol on the road. You would be a retard to be happy with that.
the difference of course is that your idiots on the road impaired are not selling commercial transport......big fucken difference

A regular pot smoker can handle it fairly well. You may think you can safely do all sorts of things after consuming alcohol, as being under the influence of alcohol can distort the user's sense of reality up to the point that they don't feel intoxicated. Cannabis does the exact opposite, and makes the user more careful than otherwise.

Fuck me Charlie......spoken like a true pot smoker....."I can concentrate so much more".....
sorry, thats fucken bullshit. It's what you think just like your pisshead thinks he's safe. I've been a hard out smoker making those same fucked up statements, also given up and watched this concentration or "careful" behaviour.......fucken stoners staring into space

[jellywrestler]

I Half a joint though, I'm a blithering fucken idiot.

which half Jimmy, the first or the second?

[tigertim20]

Is this the way to treat tourism in NZ?

Take a group of people up in a Hot Air Balloon,who rightfully expect to be treated with care and dilligence and return to earth safely.

Instead it turns out the pilot was a habitual drug user...just the sort we want with our lives in his hands right?

.

pretty isolated incident.

Im far more concerned about the tourists that come here and kill our citizens with their reckless disregard for our road rules - a far more common occurrence than balloon accidents.

[Bikemad]

pretty isolated incident.

Im far more concerned about the tourists that come here and kill our citizens with their reckless disregard for our road rules - a far more common occurrence than balloon accidents.

in a nutshell...............

[Madness]

I read somewhere the operator had recently received a blood transfusion.

[ellipsis]

...the most dangerous of all the tourist industries here, are the ones that hire vehicles to any person, with no regard to credentials that would allow them to operate a vehicle here, and set them forth amongst us...it's bad enough dodging dodgy locals...

[Akzle]

Fuck me Charlie......spoken like a true pot smoker....."I can concentrate so much more".....
sorry, thats fucken bullshit. It's what you think just like your pisshead thinks he's safe. I've been a hard out smoker making those same fucked up statements, also given up and watched this concentration or "careful" behaviour.......fucken stoners staring into space

sorry tim. You speak in ignorance.
Drugs affect everyone differently. I could function on a cocktail that would comatose young smokey. Similarly, eds daily constitutional would have me choosing not to operate machinery.
Ive met a spectrum of users, of all vices. Some for better, some for worse. I would and do trust (certain) drug users to transport me, operate >20 tonnes of machinery around me, use firearms, ride motorbikes, etcetera. All that "dangerous" shit that requires "more than fuckwit" levels of awareness.

I shit every time i drive in auckland. Those fuckwits drive in to each other EVERY DAY. no medication required.

[Ulsterkiwi]

sorry tim. You speak in ignorance.
Drugs affect everyone differently. I could function on a cocktail that would comatose young smokey. Similarly, eds daily constitutional would have me choosing not to operate machinery.
Ive met a spectrum of users, of all vices. Some for better, some for worse. I would and do trust (certain) drug users to transport me, operate >20 tonnes of machinery around me, use firearms, ride motorbikes, etcetera. All that "dangerous" shit that requires "more than fuckwit" levels of awareness.

I shit every time i drive in auckland. Those fuckwits drive in to each other EVERY DAY. no medication required.

much as it pains me, da master of ironing is correct.

My darling wife can pop some prescription drugs with little or no effect but a half measure of whiskey and she can be drunk and hungover (including all the grumpy shit) all the space of 30 minutes. Its called METABOLISM. Fast or slow is just part of it. The nature of your stomach acid, the enzymes in your intestinal and pancreatic fluid and the flora in your large intestine all play their part. To say nothing of your blood chemistry and how the old liver and kidneys are playing up. Each and every one of us is different.
The guidelines are for average Joe on an average day, guess what, you are all special cases

[skippa1]

sorry tim. You speak in ignorance.
Drugs affect everyone differently. I could function on a cocktail that would comatose young smokey. Similarly, eds daily constitutional would have me choosing not to operate machinery.
Ive met a spectrum of users, of all vices. Some for better, some for worse. I would and do trust (certain) drug users to transport me, operate >20 tonnes of machinery around me, use firearms, ride motorbikes, etcetera. All that "dangerous" shit that requires "more than fuckwit" levels of awareness.

I shit every time i drive in auckland. Those fuckwits drive in to each other EVERY DAY. no medication required.

Sorry Fred, there's a world of difference between "functioning" and satisfactorily performing a task

a pissed redneck can pull a trigger with little or no awareness....not much of a measure

i wouldn't get in a ballon with Ed either......more from the yawn factor, but that's another story

[MVnut]

There is a big difference between people who choose to use a recreational drug (which I don't actually agree with unless it is for medical reasons) and those who then cause a 'problem' for others. If this happened in PNG the pilot's family would be chopped up or burnt alive. I know what I would do if he killed my family flying a balloon while on drugs. Just as well he died also, although little consequence for the families of his unfortunate passengers

[oneblackflag]

much as it pains me, da master of ironing is correct.

My darling wife can pop some prescription drugs with little or no effect but a half measure of whiskey and she can be drunk and hungover (including all the grumpy shit) all the space of 30 minutes. Its called METABOLISM. Fast or slow is just part of it. The nature of your stomach acid, the enzymes in your intestinal and pancreatic fluid and the flora in your large intestine all play their part. To say nothing of your blood chemistry and how the old liver and kidneys are playing up. Each and every one of us is different.
The guidelines are for average Joe on an average day, guess what, you are all special cases

+1 being a Tramadol junkie like Ed, It simply has no effect on me other than feeling like utter shit when I have none; = far safer driving with me on the drug. Could it possibly be the same for a chronic pot smoker, apart from the addiction.

[Akzle]

Could it possibly be the same for a chronic pot smoker, apart from the addiction.

your opiate addiction?