A: Yes, I have seen several weather balloons while in flight. There have been cases where weather balloons have been struck by airplanes. Usually there is no damage to the aircraft, but occasionally to the weather instruments. It's a rare occurrence.

Pilots can and do occasionally see helium balloons during flight, particularly during the critical takeoff and landing phases when the aircraft is at lower altitudes. While a single party balloon might be difficult to spot due to its small size and lack of radar signature, large clusters or weather balloons are much more visible to the naked eye. In 2026, aviation safety authorities remain vigilant about balloons because they pose a genuine ingestion risk to jet engines and can damage delicate sensors like pitot tubes. Pilots are trained to report significant balloon sightings to Air Traffic Control (ATC) to warn following aircraft. Unlike birds, balloons don't move unpredictably, but they can drift into flight paths silently and without warning. For pilots of smaller, low-altitude aircraft or helicopters, the risk is even more pronounced. While modern jet engines are tested to survive small debris, hitting a large Mylar balloon can cause "foreign object damage" (FOD) that may lead to an expensive unscheduled engine inspection or, in extreme cases, a mid-air emergency.