In what police are calling a “devastating incident,” four people were killed and another was critically injured after a hot air balloon crashed in the Arizona desert on Sunday.
The incident occurred in Eloy, Ariz., shortly before 8 a.m., local police said in a news release. The balloon made its sudden, fatal descent in the area east of Sunshine Boulevard and Hanna Road.
Eloy’s mayor, Micah Powell, said the hot air balloon had been holding 13 people at the time of take-off: eight skydivers, four passengers and the balloon’s operator.
While airborne, the eight skydivers leapt from the balloon’s gondola. Then, with the remaining five adults still along for the ride, Eloy Police Chief Byron Gwaltney said that “something catastrophic occurred with the balloon, causing it to crash to the ground.”
Witnesses to the crash told several news outlets the balloon appeared to move straight up and down, then deflate while in the air. The hot air balloon hit the ground in a hard impact.
The cause of the crash is not yet known.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is currently investigating the incident. The board cited an “unspecified problem with its envelope” as a potential reason for the balloon’s downing. (The envelope is the fabric part of the aircraft’s balloon, which holds hot air or gas.)
NTSB officials identified the balloon as an A160 passenger aircraft manufactured by Cameron Balloons.
One of the five remaining passengers was pronounced dead at the scene. The other four victims were transported to hospital, where three later died. The surviving victim, critically injured, was taken to a Phoenix trauma centre and is receiving treatment.
Police have not yet named the crash victims publicly, and said they are waiting to first notify next of kin.
The family of 28-year-old Katie Bartrom identified her as one of the deceased victims. Bartrom’s mother, Jennifer Hubartt, told Arizona news outlet ABC15 that Bartrom “was a beautiful person,” who “recently became an RN and was making it on her own.”
Bartrom, who was a thrill-seeker, was reportedly visiting Arizona on a trip with her friends.
“It’s kind of sombre here at home,” Hubartt said. “We’re crying about her on and off and talking about her on and off still trying to make it real.”
ABC15 reported the man who had allegedly been piloting the hot air balloon also died in the crash.
Eloy is about 100 kilometres from Arizona’s capitol, Phoenix.
Hot air balloon rides are generally considered safe. Data published by NTSB said there were 16 hot air balloon-related deaths recorded in the U.S. between 2002 and 2016.
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