Could a stray balloon get caught in a plane or jet turbine?

You know, those balloons that end up floating into the sky and eventually pop when they get too high. But do they go high enough so that they could get caught in a plane or jet turbine? If that did happen, could the plane or jet crash as a result?


Just curious. Thanks for your answers!|||well if it got sucked into the engine it wouldn't cause much damage as long as it wasn't a large balloon. it would melt it would be once the plane has landed and it hardens from cooling it would be a bother but up in the air it shouldn't cause much of a bother.


the biggest problem with plane accidents is actually birds, getting sucked into the engines or hitting the windshields and breaking them.


but it rarely happens now.|||It might get sucked in but would do no damage.


They are made to withstand a certain amount of garbage.


A 12lb geese on the other hand...... ouch|||I'm fairly certain the balloon gets nowhere near that high. In all the accident reports I've heard thus far, a balloon has never been cited as a cause.|||Yes, it is possible, but the little helium filled toy plastic balloons that get away won't do any damage to a jet engine or airplane|||It is distinctly probable. The elastic properties of latex will cause the turbine to bog down, loosing power and thereby creating an asymmetrical thrust situation to which the flight crew will not be able to recover. This in turn will cause the aircraft to yaw toward the side of the impact, affecting lift from the wing opposite the impact side and force the aircraft to spin, ultimately stall, crash, and burn. Lesson: keep your seat belt fastened at all times, even when the Fasten Seat Belt sign is extinguished.|||I don't think it can get that high and even if it did and managed to get sucked into a turbine I don't think it would much if any damage.


x|||I have never heard of a weather balloon coming into contact with an aircraft even though some of these balloons can reach altitudes in excess of 100,000 feet. At the heights that jet aircraft fly at, the material of the balloon would be stretched very thin. Doubtful that much damage would occur even if it hit the engine intake square on. And the sond that they carry is so light that it would simply disintegrate if struck by an aircraft.