A cultura da prática baloeira e a ameaça à segurança de voo

Abstract

After their creation, around the 3rd century, small Chinese hot air balloons soon gained importance and became popular in different places around the world. However, as time goes by, the more the balloon practice – understood as the release of small or big unmanned balloons – gains adepts, the bigger are the problems caused by the fire that can reach sensitive places, bringing difficulties to the authorities of public security, aeronautic and environmental, as well as serious risks to life. This considered, this research intends to discuss this practice in recent years, when enthusiastic groups about the release of these colorful and attractive unmanned aerostats have greatly increased their size and expanded their use, bringing considerable danger to many environments, especially in Brazil. Among the environments affected by these objects, are the airspaces, which receive the transit of aircraft with hundreds of lives on board, as well as forests, where thousands of native species of fauna and flora live, residential and commercial areas, where fuel depots are located, and many other spaces where life is present. The great difficulty consists in the fact that these objects have no control, and so, after being released, they sail wandering, following the paths of the winds, which makes this practice a real game of luck, because one doesn't know where they will fall with their flammable torches, which often remain lit for hours. This state of affairs justifies the objective of this research, which is in charge of searching for data and getting to know the registered impasses and the damage that this practice, considered fun by many, has been accounting for through countless fires. It is worth mentioning that this practice has contributed for the Brazilian aviation to suffer an international downgrade as to the risk classification of its airspace, understood to be of critical levels for aeronautical operations, which limits the participation of companies and investors in the Brazilian aviation market due to the perception of insecurity. As methodology of the study, an applied nature and a descriptive approach were chosen, reasoned on bibliographic and documentary procedures. Based on the surveys conducted, it was possible to identify lack of effectiveness of the legislation applicable to the subject, as well as to bring significant data for a broader analysis, in order to reduce the risk that the current scenario offers to those directly and indirectly involved with this practice.