Updated: Balloon Crash Kills Four - AVweb

Four people died, including the pilot, and one is critically injured after a hot-air balloon crash in Eloy, Arizona, about halfway between Tucson and Phoenix, on Sunday. The balloon, identified on Monday by the National Transportation Safety Board as a Czech Republic-made Kubicek BB 85, took off with 13 people in the basket, including eight skydivers. After the skydivers jumped “something catastrophic occurred with the balloon, causing it to crash to the ground,” said Eloy Police Chief Byron Gwaltney at a news conference. It would appear the skydivers' departure was planned and not in response to problems with the balloon.


This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://www.avweb.com/aviation-news/290142