BEND, Ore. (July 15, 2012)--Oregon gas station owner Ken Couch and Iraqi adventurer Fareed Lafta, who were trying to make a tandem lawn chair balloon flight from Central Oregon to Montana, were forced to abort the trip because of thunderstorms.
Couch and Lafta took off Saturday morning from Couch's gas station in Bend, Ore.
Winds first took them about 30 miles north, then pushed them back south, before sending them east, the direction they wanted to go.
But about six hours into the flight, flight organizer Mark Knowles said thunderstorms forced them to land.
A website tracker showed them near the town of Prineville, about 30 miles northeast of their starting point.
