Amateur weather balloon flights
 

Hi,

Someone posted a link to this video on another forum I frequent (yes, I know, I'm disgracefully unfaithful :) ), of two chaps releasing a weather balloon with a digital video camera hanging off in order to record the scenery from the edge of the atmosphere. Here: YouTube - How to film the Earth from space

This is not the first one of these I've seen and I was wondering what sort of damage this could do to an airliner. I'm presuming these people haven't considered the potential dangers of launching a box of metal, glass & plastic to an altitude of over 120,000 feet - and back down again.

Given the low cost of the gear involved, I suspect this is a stunt we may see increasing in popularity.

Could it cause significant damage ? Much more than a birdstrike ?

An Appendix to ICAO Annex 2 regulates "Unmanned free balloons". As far as I know, polish balloon enthusiasts conform to these rules.