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Wetzel and Strelzyk were done building their third hot-air balloon. They would surely be caught if this did not work. They still needed to be mindful of one more thing before boarding the balloon. They had to make sure that the weather would be fine and had to prepare themselves before diving in. Strong winds needed to blow so as to get to their destination.
No Time To Spare
The weather that the needed would only show up on September 15, 1979. A heavy thunderstorm took over the East German skies, which carried strong winds that could surely take the families to West Germany. After midnight, while everyone was fast asleep, all family members got into Peter Strelzyk’s car but discovered they could not all fit. They needed to hurry and this was a huge problem.
The Journey From Town
They ended up letting Peter’s older son Frank ride on a moped. He was going to have to follow them as they left Poessneck forever. Since the moped kept on stopping due to overheating, it slowed them down a bit. But by about 1 AM, the families reached their destination and did not take a look back. Since they did not even have a test ride, it was quite risky.
A Shaky Take-Off
Both Wetzel and Strelzyk were hoping that their estimation would be enough for all eight family members. As they cut off the ropes, the felt the balloon rise and were flooded with exhilaration. Sadly one of the anchors shot up into the air and hit Strelzyk’s son square in the face which made him bleed heavily. The balloon slowly moved west and this was just one of their issues as they continued riding.
Chaos Onboard
As they could stay rest-assured, they found a lethal flaw during the takeoff. The families did not cut off the ropes properly at the same time. So as the hot-air balloon started to tilt at a jarring angle, the flames were not burning on command.they could not get control of the flames and so the balloon that Wetzel had worked hard to stitch, ended up catching fire. There was a storm, an injured kid and the balloon vessel was not working properly.
Sailing West
But the Wetzel and Strezlyk families were lucky to have a fire extinguisher onboard. They quickly killed the scorching flames that risked them and their balloon’s safety. In the cold weather, they hoped fate would guide them towards their destination. There was an East German watchman who noticed the balloon, alerting the authorities. They were high up so they were not clearly visible. After 28 minutes, the fuel ran out and they were falling.