Hot Air Balloons Grounded After Tragedy

The Civil Aviation Authority of New Zealand (CAA) is due to investigate Early Morning Balloons after it was involved in a hot air balloon disaster on Saturday. The probe will be conducted under the Health and Safety Act to consider if the company properly carried out its responsibilities to its staff and customers. It will determine if the firm met certification under new adventure aviation regulations that all commercial ballooning firms are required to achieve by May 1.

Eleven people died in the accident in question, which saw a sightseeing hot air balloon burst into flames and crash. It’s been unclear if the people in the gondola were locals or tourists. Emergency services raced to the scene, about 50 miles north of Wellington, the country’s capital, after being contacted just before 7:30 in the morning local time.

Early morning flights that depart just after sunrise are popular in the low-lying rural plains of Wairarapa. It’s understood that the balloon was owned and operated by Lance Hopping, a Carterton man who has had over 1,000 hours of experience in commercial ballooning. A spokesperson for the health service in the region, Jill Stringer, confirmed that everyone on board died.

According to witness, flames could be seen bursting from the basket at about 500ft. The long flames were estimated by one person as being 10m long, and the hot air balloon descended like a rocket. Just before it crashed in the ground, the balloon hit a power cable, knocking out power for people in the area.

Out of respect for the people who died in the ballooning accident on Saturday, many balloonists grounded their crafts afterward. Martyn Stacey, the president of Balloon Aviation Authority of New Zealand, said that there was no collective decision to ground flights, but many companies chose to.

Under the current adventure aviation regulations, balloonists wishing to carry passengers that pay for rides have to have special commercial pilot licences for the balloons. The balloon must also have a valid certificate of airworthiness, and this is obtained through an annual inspection by specialist aircraft maintenance engineers.

It has been over 16 years since anybody has been killed in a ballooning accident in the country. In 1995, three people died in Christchurch when a hot air balloon plummeted into the sea. The CAA says that there have been six other non-deadly balloon incidents since 1992, during which there were no injuries. In 2010, a balloon was dragged by a wind squall after landing in Hastings. Prior to that, a balloon hit the top of some trees in 2001 before landing in Glen Eden. Over the last two decades, there have been 17 ballooning incidents, with six involving power cables.