Reuters report that a French travel company Mauritanie Aventure operated the balloons involved in the accident in Mauritania on either Thursday or Friday, depending on which source you read.
I also see reports of the balloons bursting in a sand storm, but obviously that needs to be taken with a big pinch of salt.
Showing posts with label accident. Show all posts
Showing posts with label accident. Show all posts
Saturday, December 15, 2007
Friday, December 14, 2007
Tourists Die in Mountain Balloon Crash, Mauritania
First reports coming in on this one right now..... I did'nt even know anyone did such things up there. If like me you were not entirely sure where in North Africa Mauritania was, heres a google map.
View Larger Map
You might remember Mauritania having a slightly happier recent ballooning past as it was over this country that Brian and Bertrand completed their epic round the world voyage.
Its Friday, lots of us will be going flying this weekend. Yet again I say...... be careful.
There is always another day to go flying.
As soon as I find out more I will post....
Tourists die in balloon crash14/12/2007 12:41 - (SA)
Nouakchott - Two French tourists were killed and four seriously injured on Thursday in Mauritania when the hot air balloons they were travelling in crashed, the official AMI news agency reported.
The French tourists were part of a group of 12 people travelling in two hot air balloons in the mountainous region around Atar, 400km northeast of the capital Nouakchott, when a strong sandstorm damaged their balloons, causing them to plummet, the agency reported.
After receiving emergency treatment in Atar, the injured were transported to the capital, it added.
Saturday, November 17, 2007
Iowa Balloon Accident
COULTER — The Federal Aviation Agency (FAA) is en route to rural Franklin County where two men from the western U.S. were killed this morning when their hot air balloon crashed near Coulter.A third man was injured and was taken to Mercy Medical Center-North Iowa, Mason City, for treatment.No names of the victims are available at this time.Franklin County Sheriff Larry Richtsmeier said onlookers saw the balloon in the sky and saw it separate from the basket about 65 feet above the ground.The accident was reported at 9:15 a.m. and happened three miles west of Coulter, near the junction of Finch Avenue and 110th Street.Authorities at the scene included the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department, Iowa State Patrol, Franklin medical examiner, Coulter Fire Department, West Franklin EMS and Franklin County Hospital.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Another Albuquerque Accident
From MSN
Is it just me, and I am going to flamed for this, is Albuquerque the most dangerous balloon festival in the world??
Why on earth did this guy have a six month pregnant woman on board!!
http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-us&fg=rss&vid=66facfcc-3a41-439f-9654-23a19cdec1a8&from=05
Is it just me, and I am going to flamed for this, is Albuquerque the most dangerous balloon festival in the world??
Why on earth did this guy have a six month pregnant woman on board!!
http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-us&fg=rss&vid=66facfcc-3a41-439f-9654-23a19cdec1a8&from=05
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
Final landing of Albuquerque balloon filmed
Its no wonder everyone else was injured in that crash.
Take a look at the final touch down, here..
http://www.abc2news.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=80dc047e-c9bd-42c8-9af4-77b1e3ec7027
Take a look at the final touch down, here..
http://www.abc2news.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=80dc047e-c9bd-42c8-9af4-77b1e3ec7027
Albuquerque Accident
California woman dies in balloon accident in New Mexico
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.
A California woman fell at least 70 feet to her death Monday and three other women were hospitalized, two with broken legs, after a hot air balloon they were aboard snagged a utility line during the city's annual balloon fiesta.
The woman who died and the other three women were from Oceanside, Calif., north of San Diego.
"Our balloon community is a close-knit family and a time like this is difficult for all of us," said Gary Bennett, president of the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta.
The balloon named "Heavenly Ride" became caught on a utility line at 7:45 a.m. The pilot threw down a tether to a pickup truck on the ground in an apparent attempt to reel the balloon down and free it, a state police spokesman said.
But the tether broke and the balloon bounced back up, causing its gondola to tip. The woman fell more than 70 feet.
"It probably was a lot higher than that," state police Sgt. Kevin Bruno said. "That's just an estimate."
Paramedics tried to revive the woman, Rosemary Wooley Phillips, 60, in a dirt field where she fell. She was pronounced dead a short time later at University of New Mexico Hospital.
Bill Birkley of Albuquerque was driving to visit a client when he saw the balloon flying low and fast, then getting snagged in the utility line "like a fish hook."
He stopped his vehicle and was standing about 100 feet from the trapped balloon when he saw Phillips fall.
"She was screaming and flailing her arms," Birkley said. "It was the most helpless feeling in the world. There she was, coming down through the air, and there wasn't a thing you could do for her."
The balloon, meanwhile, came free and drifted across a road near Interstate 25. It crash-landed, inflicting injuries on the other passengers and a pilot. Bruno said two women had broken legs and another had minor bumps and bruises.
The three were admitted to University Hospital, he said. The pilot sustained minor scratches and was treated at the scene.
The women booked the flight through Rainbow Ryders, a concessionaire contracted to provide flights from the fiesta's launch field.
A company official, Scott Appleman, said pilot Tom Reyes had 30 years' experience and more than 1,900 flying hours.
Authorities were careful not to assign immediate blame on winds, saying an investigation was continuing. Yet hot air balloons, which don't have engines like an airplane or helicopter, are entirely subject to the wind.
"Wind is part of the unknown. Weather is part of the unknown, relative to hot air ballooning, all the time," Appleman said.
The crash site is about three miles south of the launch field, where flights were halted later in the morning after winds exceeded the maximum allowed 10 knots.
Organizers said the crash had no relation to the decision to halt flights. Meteorologists monitor weather conditions each day and information is presented to pilots, who otherwise can decide if they'll launch.
"If the wind gets to a certain level, 10 knots, then we'll stop operations," fiesta executive director Paul Smith said.
At the launch field, balloonists expressed condolences for the victim's family.
"It puts a bit of a cloud over the fiesta," said pilot Chris Hinde of Rugby, England, flying in Albuquerque for the 10th year. "People always ask if we should keep going. We made the decision not to fly today after we heard the news."
One woman was killed during the 1998 event when a balloon plowed into two sets of power lines before plummeting about 30 feet to the ground at Kirtland Air Force Base on Albuquerque's south side.
During the 1993 fiesta, two men were killed when their balloon hit power lines, severing the gondola, which plunged about 90 feet to the ground. Two other men died during the 1990 fiesta when their balloon crashed into power lines and burst into flames.
Four people died and five were injured during the 1982 fiesta when propane tanks on a large balloon exploded.
Balloonists, however, say such fatalities are rare and that their sport is not particularly dangerous.
"It's no riskier than driving a car," said pilot Anthony Haynes of Houston. "It's a sad thing when it happens. But when you see a car accident, you don't stop driving."
The fiesta, meanwhile, remained on schedule and a telephone recording at Rainbow Ryders said all flights would take off Tuesday as planned.
"All we can do is be safe in our planning and execution as best we know how," Bennett said.
___
On the Net:
Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta: http://www.balloonfiesta.com
___
Associated Press Writer Melanie Dabovich contributed to this report.
Published: Monday, October 8, 2007 16:17 PDT
Thursday, September 20, 2007
TSB Canada
TSB has safety suggestions after last month's hot air balloon crash
Wednesday, September 19 - 06:46:56 PM
Andrea Macpherson/Bruce Claggett
SURREY (NEWS1130) - Fantasy Balloon Charters says it will work with investigators to make sure a disaster never happens again. It is the company involved in this summer's hot air balloon crash in Surrey, and it's pleased with the preliminary ideas being floated by the Canadian Transportation Safety Board.
John Kageorge is speaking for the company and said it plans to impliment every suggestion put forward by the TSB.
"A draft recommendation suggests there be an emergency shut off for propane, that is something that would involve the manufacturers of the equiptment, and certainly is something that seems quite needed."
The suggestions involved the handling of the propane gas system and the tether that burned when the balloon went up in flames. Kageorge said the business has suspended all flights until the end of the season, and it is focused on the people impacted by the crash. Two women died and 11 other's were hurt in the accident.
Wednesday, September 19 - 06:46:56 PM
Andrea Macpherson/Bruce Claggett
SURREY (NEWS1130) - Fantasy Balloon Charters says it will work with investigators to make sure a disaster never happens again. It is the company involved in this summer's hot air balloon crash in Surrey, and it's pleased with the preliminary ideas being floated by the Canadian Transportation Safety Board.
John Kageorge is speaking for the company and said it plans to impliment every suggestion put forward by the TSB.
"A draft recommendation suggests there be an emergency shut off for propane, that is something that would involve the manufacturers of the equiptment, and certainly is something that seems quite needed."
The suggestions involved the handling of the propane gas system and the tether that burned when the balloon went up in flames. Kageorge said the business has suspended all flights until the end of the season, and it is focused on the people impacted by the crash. Two women died and 11 other's were hurt in the accident.
Pilot of hot-air balloon pilot who crashed helped TSB develop proposed new rules
Pilot of hot-air balloon pilot who crashed helped TSB develop proposed new rules
12 minutes ago
VANCOUVER - The pilot of a hot-air balloon that plunged to the ground in a fiery crash, killing two people last month, conducted his own experiments to help the Transportation Safety Board come up with recommendations to make ballooning safer.
John Kageorge, a spokesman for the pilot, said the Transportation Safety Board has concluded a propane fuel leak had a role in the fire that burned through the balloon's tether, setting off a series of horrific events that ended with some passengers having to jump several storeys to get out of the balloon.
The board said Wednesday investigators have come up with four recommendations.
Kageorge said Pennock has worked very closely with the board, offering his eyewitness account of the accident as well as lending his expertise as an experienced balloon pilot.
"He had a critical role in the development of these recommendations," Kageorge said.
"So much so that after each meeting the pilot had with the Transportation Safety Board, he'd spend his evenings doing considerable experiments so that he could report back theories, concepts the next day."
Board spokesman Tony Pleasants said one of the board's recommendations has to do with the fact that there's no emergency fuel shut-off systems in hot-air balloons the way there is with other aircraft.
"(Other aircraft) normally have a master emergency fuel shut-off system and there's no such thing on balloons," said Pleasants.
Two other recommendations involve the general handling of the liquid propane gas system and the tether that burned through.
Pleasants said he doesn't want to comment on the fourth.
"The fourth one - I think I really can't say too much about it because if I said anything it could be seen as kind of finding fault and we don't do that."
The recommendations were submitted to the board's Gatineau, Que., office last week and will likely be referred back to Pleasants before they are finalized.
When complete, the recommendations will go to Transport Canada, which will then order safety changes to the balloon company or even the industry as a whole.
"They (Transport Canada) could focus on the possibility of changing the regulatory structure," Pleasants said.
He said his job is to propose something while Transport Canada is charged with taking action.
The flame-engulfed hot air balloon crashed into a B.C. trailer park on Aug. 24, injuring the pilot and 10 others and killing a woman and her grown daughter.
Shannon Knackstedt and her daughter Jemma had been celebrating Shannon's 50th birthday with the hot-air balloon ride with Fantasy Balloon Charters.
Kageorge said one or two of the injured remain in hospital.
"Some people's injuries will affect them for their entire life and for that, Steve and the company are very sorry," he said.
"Some people have been able to rejoin their regular routine in their lives, although they've certainly been impacted by the trauma. Some people escaped with less injury."
Kageorge said Pennock remains emotionally devastated.
"His heart is full of sorrow for how people have been impacted by this."
No lawsuits have yet been served on the company.
Fantasy Balloon Charters voluntarily stopped operations after the accident. The hot-air ballooning season closes at the end of September, but Kageorge said the company will resume flights in May.
The company will implement all of the board's recommendations, he added.
The accident was among three involving balloons this summer.
A gust of wind dragged a balloon into a set of power lines in Calgary earlier this month but the pilot and his eight passengers weren't injured.
In August a hot air balloon fire sent three people to hospital near Winnipeg.
The balloon landed in a field, flipping the basket before a rope caught fire and the balloon burst into flames.
12 minutes ago
VANCOUVER - The pilot of a hot-air balloon that plunged to the ground in a fiery crash, killing two people last month, conducted his own experiments to help the Transportation Safety Board come up with recommendations to make ballooning safer.
John Kageorge, a spokesman for the pilot, said the Transportation Safety Board has concluded a propane fuel leak had a role in the fire that burned through the balloon's tether, setting off a series of horrific events that ended with some passengers having to jump several storeys to get out of the balloon.
The board said Wednesday investigators have come up with four recommendations.
Kageorge said Pennock has worked very closely with the board, offering his eyewitness account of the accident as well as lending his expertise as an experienced balloon pilot.
"He had a critical role in the development of these recommendations," Kageorge said.
"So much so that after each meeting the pilot had with the Transportation Safety Board, he'd spend his evenings doing considerable experiments so that he could report back theories, concepts the next day."
Board spokesman Tony Pleasants said one of the board's recommendations has to do with the fact that there's no emergency fuel shut-off systems in hot-air balloons the way there is with other aircraft.
"(Other aircraft) normally have a master emergency fuel shut-off system and there's no such thing on balloons," said Pleasants.
Two other recommendations involve the general handling of the liquid propane gas system and the tether that burned through.
Pleasants said he doesn't want to comment on the fourth.
"The fourth one - I think I really can't say too much about it because if I said anything it could be seen as kind of finding fault and we don't do that."
The recommendations were submitted to the board's Gatineau, Que., office last week and will likely be referred back to Pleasants before they are finalized.
When complete, the recommendations will go to Transport Canada, which will then order safety changes to the balloon company or even the industry as a whole.
"They (Transport Canada) could focus on the possibility of changing the regulatory structure," Pleasants said.
He said his job is to propose something while Transport Canada is charged with taking action.
The flame-engulfed hot air balloon crashed into a B.C. trailer park on Aug. 24, injuring the pilot and 10 others and killing a woman and her grown daughter.
Shannon Knackstedt and her daughter Jemma had been celebrating Shannon's 50th birthday with the hot-air balloon ride with Fantasy Balloon Charters.
Kageorge said one or two of the injured remain in hospital.
"Some people's injuries will affect them for their entire life and for that, Steve and the company are very sorry," he said.
"Some people have been able to rejoin their regular routine in their lives, although they've certainly been impacted by the trauma. Some people escaped with less injury."
Kageorge said Pennock remains emotionally devastated.
"His heart is full of sorrow for how people have been impacted by this."
No lawsuits have yet been served on the company.
Fantasy Balloon Charters voluntarily stopped operations after the accident. The hot-air ballooning season closes at the end of September, but Kageorge said the company will resume flights in May.
The company will implement all of the board's recommendations, he added.
The accident was among three involving balloons this summer.
A gust of wind dragged a balloon into a set of power lines in Calgary earlier this month but the pilot and his eight passengers weren't injured.
In August a hot air balloon fire sent three people to hospital near Winnipeg.
The balloon landed in a field, flipping the basket before a rope caught fire and the balloon burst into flames.
Transportation Safety Board makes recommendations after hot air balloon crash
Aftermath of crash at Hazelmere CampgroundNews1130 Photo
Wednesday, September 19 - 01:06:46 PM Dean Recksiedler
SURREY (NEWS1130) - An investigator with the Transportation Safety Board has made four recommendations after last month's hot air balloon crash in South Surrey that killed two people. The recommendations deal with the handling of the liquid propane gas system and the fact there's no master "kill-switch" to shut off the fuel in an emergency.
The Fantasy Charter's balloon crashed into the Hazelmere trailer park August 24th, injuring several people and killing a woman and her daughter. The TSB is trying to figure out how a fire broke out in the balloon's gondola before it plummeted into the trailer park and incinerated three recreational vehicles.
-----------------------Perhaps manifolds should be banned and quick shut off mandatory??? Lets see if the Canadian and US press pick up on that.
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Fallen pilot recovering
A Texas man who fell during a weekend hot air balloon mishap in Bossier City was recovering Monday after surgery as the Federal Aviation Administration began investigating.
Rick Ashby, 54, of Longview, Texas, was listed in good condition, according to an LSU Hospital spokesman.
The 18-year pilot broke his ankles and wrists after falling between 20 and 50 feet, his family said Monday.
Ashby and an unidentified female passenger fell out of the ULTRAMAGIC SA M-56C as it crashed Sunday morning near Bass Pro Shops in Bossier City during the Centennial Hot Air Balloon Rally, an event celebrating the city's 100th birthday. The two were playing a game in which basket occupants try to drop beanbags onto targets on the ground.
After the crash, the aircraft started drifting, and Ashby grabbed a rope attached to the basket. Witnesses, including a Bossier City police officer, have given different accounts on how far he fell after the balloon pulled him into the air. It eventually landed without a pilot across Red River after hitting a light pole on Clyde Fant Parkway.
The woman had a few bruises but did not need medical attention.
The FAA is examining Ashby's credentials and background, the balloon and environmental factors, said Roland Herwig, a spokesman for the agency.
Ashby is listed with the FAA as the owner of the airship, manufactured in 2004.
Investigators also will look into the background of Ashby's passenger.
An investigator spoke Monday with the Bossier City officer who was a witness, city spokesman Mark Natale said. The Police and Fire departments are otherwise not involved.
Sunday's accident is the second locally in less than a week in which the FAA is investigating.
That agency with the National Transportation Safety Board is trying to determine what caused the helicopter crash that killed Joseph Benjamin Grammer, 36, and Jeffery Daniel Legro, 24, on Wednesday between Hosston and Vivian.
The Fairchild-Hiller 1100 went down in the woods south of Black Lake Bayou off state Highway 2. The newly purchased, refurbished chopper was en route from Century, Fla., to Grammer's flight training school near Las Vegas.
A preliminary report is expected this week, but a final determination could take six months to a year.
Rick Ashby, 54, of Longview, Texas, was listed in good condition, according to an LSU Hospital spokesman.
| |
Ashby and an unidentified female passenger fell out of the ULTRAMAGIC SA M-56C as it crashed Sunday morning near Bass Pro Shops in Bossier City during the Centennial Hot Air Balloon Rally, an event celebrating the city's 100th birthday. The two were playing a game in which basket occupants try to drop beanbags onto targets on the ground.
After the crash, the aircraft started drifting, and Ashby grabbed a rope attached to the basket. Witnesses, including a Bossier City police officer, have given different accounts on how far he fell after the balloon pulled him into the air. It eventually landed without a pilot across Red River after hitting a light pole on Clyde Fant Parkway.
The woman had a few bruises but did not need medical attention.
The FAA is examining Ashby's credentials and background, the balloon and environmental factors, said Roland Herwig, a spokesman for the agency.
Ashby is listed with the FAA as the owner of the airship, manufactured in 2004.
Investigators also will look into the background of Ashby's passenger.
An investigator spoke Monday with the Bossier City officer who was a witness, city spokesman Mark Natale said. The Police and Fire departments are otherwise not involved.
Sunday's accident is the second locally in less than a week in which the FAA is investigating.
That agency with the National Transportation Safety Board is trying to determine what caused the helicopter crash that killed Joseph Benjamin Grammer, 36, and Jeffery Daniel Legro, 24, on Wednesday between Hosston and Vivian.
The Fairchild-Hiller 1100 went down in the woods south of Black Lake Bayou off state Highway 2. The newly purchased, refurbished chopper was en route from Century, Fla., to Grammer's flight training school near Las Vegas.
A preliminary report is expected this week, but a final determination could take six months to a year.
Sunday, September 09, 2007
Nine escape injury after hot air balloon hits power lines
16 hours ago
CALGARY (CP) — A hot air balloon was still touching electrical wires when emergency crews arrived, forcing the pilot and eight startled passengers to wait several minutes trapped in the balloon until utility workers could secure the power lines.
There were no injuries after a gust of wind pushed the balloon into the wires next to an open field where the pilot was preparing to land at the end of the flight.
There have been two tragic balloon accidents in Canada this year, including the death of a mother and daughter after a balloon carrying 13 people went up in flames last month shortly after launching in Surrey B.C.
Eleven others were injured in the crash that was flashed around the world when graphic photos and video were posted showing the balloon plummet to earth before crashing in a ball of fire in a busy trailer park.
Two people were badly burned in Manitoba a month ago after a balloon carrying a dozen people crashed and burned.
Transport Canada is now investigating all three incidents.
Hot air balloon hits Calgary powerline
Vancouver Sun
Published:
By Sarah Chapman
CALGARY - A hot air balloon ride took an unexpected turn when it collided with a power line on Saturday morning.
Eight passengers and the pilot escaped injury after a gust of wind blew the balloon into the lines near Seton Boulevard in southeast Calgary.
"It was a slow flight then all of a sudden there was a gust of wind," said pilot Dennis Myrthu.
"I think we're very fortunate. I was mostly concerned about the passengers."
Around 8:30 a.m., Myrthu began to land the balloon in a field near a gravel road, but once he neared the ground, the wind picked up and swung the balloon into the lines.
The brightly-coloured canopy became tangled in the lines.
"I've had incidents that I could have done without over the years, but I've never encountered a power line," said the pilot with 30 years' experience.
"But if you're going to hit a power line, this is probably the best case scenario."
CanWest News Service
Sunday, September 02, 2007
Yet another accident in Canada, well maybe.
Sounds like this is a normal flight and landing, but any happenstance in Canada with balloons is going to make the news.
No Injuries in Ottawa Hot Air Balloon Accident
Caroline Franks/Jason McIntyre
Sunday, September 2, 2007
Another hot air balloon accident, this time in the east end of Ottawa where two hot air balloons went down.
Shortly after 7 o'clock yesterday evening, a balloon grazed a second in the shape of a dog.
The beagle deflated quickly and landed on the Transitway near Hurdman Station.
No injuries have been reported.
An O.C. Transpo official says the route is now clear.
The other balloon landed safely nearby.
MSNBC Balloon Safety
Interesting report with suggestion that a fuel hose came loose in Canada
http://video.msn.com/v/us/v.htm?g=049acd9d-2c64-449f-82c8-0222c4dbe3d3&f=34&fg=rss
They fly in Temecula winelands California
http://video.msn.com/v/us/v.htm?g=049acd9d-2c64-449f-82c8-0222c4dbe3d3&f=34&fg=rss
They fly in Temecula winelands California
Friday, August 31, 2007
Pilot meets survivor of B.C. hot air balloon crash
Last Updated: Thursday, August 30, 2007 | 3:23 PM PT
CBC News
A survivor of a recent fatal hot air balloon crash in Surrey, B.C., met with the pilot on Wednesday and now says she understands why he was unable to help some of the passengers.
Diana Rutledge, who is recovering in the hospital from her injuries, had been critical of Stephen Pennock, the pilot at the helm of the balloon and owner of Fantasy Balloon Charters.
After talking to Pennock, Rutledge said she understood why the pilot couldn't help passengers in the gondola when it caught fire.
Pennock told her he was blown out of the gondola when it exploded, and couldn't get back because of the flames, Rutledge said.
Two passengers, a 49-year-old mother and her 21-year-old daughter, died and 11 others were injured when a fire erupted just before the balloon was to take off Friday. The blazing balloon and gondola then crashed into an RV park.
Rutledge said she is pleased that Pennock paid her a visit but added that she will still pursue legal action if she is not compensated for lost work.
"I need to be compensated because I need to live," she told CBC News Wednesday. Rutledge holds down two jobs as a bartender but doctors told her it will be months before she can put weight on her feet, she said.
Also on Wednesday, Pennock visited the RV park in south Surrey where the flaming balloon landed, destroying several mobile homes and vehicles. No one was hurt at the park. He also paid his respects at a makeshift memorial for the two women killed.
(With files from the Canadian Press)
CBC News
A survivor of a recent fatal hot air balloon crash in Surrey, B.C., met with the pilot on Wednesday and now says she understands why he was unable to help some of the passengers.
Diana Rutledge, who is recovering in the hospital from her injuries, had been critical of Stephen Pennock, the pilot at the helm of the balloon and owner of Fantasy Balloon Charters.
After talking to Pennock, Rutledge said she understood why the pilot couldn't help passengers in the gondola when it caught fire.
Pennock told her he was blown out of the gondola when it exploded, and couldn't get back because of the flames, Rutledge said.
Two passengers, a 49-year-old mother and her 21-year-old daughter, died and 11 others were injured when a fire erupted just before the balloon was to take off Friday. The blazing balloon and gondola then crashed into an RV park.
Rutledge said she is pleased that Pennock paid her a visit but added that she will still pursue legal action if she is not compensated for lost work.
"I need to be compensated because I need to live," she told CBC News Wednesday. Rutledge holds down two jobs as a bartender but doctors told her it will be months before she can put weight on her feet, she said.
Also on Wednesday, Pennock visited the RV park in south Surrey where the flaming balloon landed, destroying several mobile homes and vehicles. No one was hurt at the park. He also paid his respects at a makeshift memorial for the two women killed.
(With files from the Canadian Press)
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Popping Sound
'Popping sound' heard before deadly hot air balloon accident: pilot
Last Updated: Wednesday, August 29, 2007 | 9:21 AM PT
CBC News
The pilot involved in a deadly hot air balloon crash in Surrey, B.C., was aware of a "popping sound" from the balloon before its launch, a spokesman for the balloon company said on Tuesday.
A propane tank with the bottom missing sits among wreckage in a Transportation Safety Board garage in Richmond, B.C.
John Kageorge, of Fantasy Balloon Charters, said pilot Stephen Pennock is curious to find out why there was such a sound and whether it contributed to the accident last Friday. A fireball erupted in the balloon's gondola, causing its tethers to snap and allowing the balloon to rise into the air before all of the passengers could get out. The blazing balloon then crashed into an RV park, killing two people and injuring 11 others.
"Prior to the launch of the balloon, the pilot reports a popping sound," Kageorge told CBC News on Tuesday. "That is really the focus of his curiosity to see if that popping sound might be related to this sudden fireball that first surrounded him."
The Transportation Safety Board had its first meeting with Pennock on Tuesday, but he hasn't discussed the specifics of the crash with investigators, Kageorge said.
Continue Article
He said hot air balloon accidents are so rare that investigators looking at the crash are learning the basics of hot air ballooning before the investigation can really begin.
"The Transportation Safety Board has asked that we start at square one, so today's discussion really was focused on hot air ballooning itself," Kageorge said.
Wreckage from the balloon accident is being examined by the Transportation Safety Board.
Kageorge said the TSB hasn't asked why Pennock got out of the balloon before the passengers, a fact that some members of the public have questioned. Kageorge said the balloon had five compartments and a separate cockpit for the pilot so Pennock couldn't have helped passengers if he had stayed in his compartment.
Shannon Knackstedt, 49, and her 21-year-old daughter, Gemma, both from Langley, B.C., died in the accident.
'It's no fault of his': pilot defended
Bob Daws, who has known Pennock for 16 years and worked with him for a time in 1998, defended the pilot amid talk of a lawsuit from at least one survivor.
Daws said Wednesday that Pennock is a perfectionist, who did everything by the books.
"I know his procedure and whatever and how he takes off and everything like that and this is nothing but a damn accident and something," Daws said.
"Whatever it was, and the inspectors, the people, they'll find out and I'm positive that it's no fault of his."
Last Updated: Wednesday, August 29, 2007 | 9:21 AM PT
CBC News
The pilot involved in a deadly hot air balloon crash in Surrey, B.C., was aware of a "popping sound" from the balloon before its launch, a spokesman for the balloon company said on Tuesday.
A propane tank with the bottom missing sits among wreckage in a Transportation Safety Board garage in Richmond, B.C.
John Kageorge, of Fantasy Balloon Charters, said pilot Stephen Pennock is curious to find out why there was such a sound and whether it contributed to the accident last Friday. A fireball erupted in the balloon's gondola, causing its tethers to snap and allowing the balloon to rise into the air before all of the passengers could get out. The blazing balloon then crashed into an RV park, killing two people and injuring 11 others.
"Prior to the launch of the balloon, the pilot reports a popping sound," Kageorge told CBC News on Tuesday. "That is really the focus of his curiosity to see if that popping sound might be related to this sudden fireball that first surrounded him."
The Transportation Safety Board had its first meeting with Pennock on Tuesday, but he hasn't discussed the specifics of the crash with investigators, Kageorge said.
Continue Article
He said hot air balloon accidents are so rare that investigators looking at the crash are learning the basics of hot air ballooning before the investigation can really begin.
"The Transportation Safety Board has asked that we start at square one, so today's discussion really was focused on hot air ballooning itself," Kageorge said.
Wreckage from the balloon accident is being examined by the Transportation Safety Board.
Kageorge said the TSB hasn't asked why Pennock got out of the balloon before the passengers, a fact that some members of the public have questioned. Kageorge said the balloon had five compartments and a separate cockpit for the pilot so Pennock couldn't have helped passengers if he had stayed in his compartment.
Shannon Knackstedt, 49, and her 21-year-old daughter, Gemma, both from Langley, B.C., died in the accident.
'It's no fault of his': pilot defended
Bob Daws, who has known Pennock for 16 years and worked with him for a time in 1998, defended the pilot amid talk of a lawsuit from at least one survivor.
Daws said Wednesday that Pennock is a perfectionist, who did everything by the books.
"I know his procedure and whatever and how he takes off and everything like that and this is nothing but a damn accident and something," Daws said.
"Whatever it was, and the inspectors, the people, they'll find out and I'm positive that it's no fault of his."
More
Pilot of burning balloon charged 22 years ago Sunny Freeman, CanWest News Service; Vancouver Sun
Published: Tuesday, August 28, 2007
VANCOUVER - The pilot of a hot-air balloon that mysteriously caught fire Friday, killing a mother and daughter, faced three counts of reckless endangerment in a 1985 - believed to be the first charges involving hot-air ballooning in Canada.
The accident happened in Surrey, B.C., about 45 kilometres southeast of Vancouver.
Steve Pennock was initially convicted of two counts and fined $750 under the Aeronautics Act after a precarious flight in September 1985. But an appeal court later overturned his convictions.
During the flight, court documents obtained by the Vancouver Sun show several passengers were frightened when the balloon dipped into a lake near Victoria, instead of landing in a nearby field.
Later in the flight, the balloon lifted a 12-year old boy 20 metres in the air after taking off while the boy was clinging to a rope holding the balloon to the ground.
"The flight was alleged to have been operated in such a negligent or reckless manner as to endanger or be likely to endanger the life or property of the passengers," according to the court documents.
Pennock was convicted of two counts - the ones related to dipping into the lake and taking off with the boy in tow - in 1987.
But the County Court of Vancouver Island overturned the convictions later in 1987. The judge wrote there was insufficient evidence to determine whether Pennock was "reckless or negligent to a degree deserving of punishment."
Pennock has been the owner and chief pilot of Fantasy Balloon Charters in Langley for 16 years. He piloted the 12-passenger balloon that slammed into two homes in the Hazelmere RV and Campground in south Surrey.
Pennock escaped with first-degree burns to his arm after jumping from the flame-engulfed balloon that killed a mother and daughter, Shannon and Gemma Knackstedt, of Langley, B.C.
Doreen Knackstedt confirmed Monday that her daughter in-law and granddaughter died in the blaze.
Eleven others were sent to hospital after the balloon crash around Friday evening.
Monte Aguilar, whose mother, Diana Rutledge, broke bones in her feet when she jumped from a height of five storeys from the burning balloon, criticized the pilot's actions.
"It doesn't make sense to me that the guy got out first. . . . The lighter the basket, the faster it goes up," Aguilar said Sunday.
Pennock could not be reached Monday, but John Kageorge, a balloon crew member and employee of Fantasy Balloon Charters, said Pennock was helpless in Friday night's crash.
"He was in a ball of fire at the centre of the cockpit," Kageorge said.
No charges have been laid in the crash. The Transportation Safety Board is investigating.
Vancouver Sun
Published: Tuesday, August 28, 2007
VANCOUVER - The pilot of a hot-air balloon that mysteriously caught fire Friday, killing a mother and daughter, faced three counts of reckless endangerment in a 1985 - believed to be the first charges involving hot-air ballooning in Canada.
The accident happened in Surrey, B.C., about 45 kilometres southeast of Vancouver.
Steve Pennock was initially convicted of two counts and fined $750 under the Aeronautics Act after a precarious flight in September 1985. But an appeal court later overturned his convictions.
During the flight, court documents obtained by the Vancouver Sun show several passengers were frightened when the balloon dipped into a lake near Victoria, instead of landing in a nearby field.
Later in the flight, the balloon lifted a 12-year old boy 20 metres in the air after taking off while the boy was clinging to a rope holding the balloon to the ground.
"The flight was alleged to have been operated in such a negligent or reckless manner as to endanger or be likely to endanger the life or property of the passengers," according to the court documents.
Pennock was convicted of two counts - the ones related to dipping into the lake and taking off with the boy in tow - in 1987.
But the County Court of Vancouver Island overturned the convictions later in 1987. The judge wrote there was insufficient evidence to determine whether Pennock was "reckless or negligent to a degree deserving of punishment."
Pennock has been the owner and chief pilot of Fantasy Balloon Charters in Langley for 16 years. He piloted the 12-passenger balloon that slammed into two homes in the Hazelmere RV and Campground in south Surrey.
Pennock escaped with first-degree burns to his arm after jumping from the flame-engulfed balloon that killed a mother and daughter, Shannon and Gemma Knackstedt, of Langley, B.C.
Doreen Knackstedt confirmed Monday that her daughter in-law and granddaughter died in the blaze.
Eleven others were sent to hospital after the balloon crash around Friday evening.
Monte Aguilar, whose mother, Diana Rutledge, broke bones in her feet when she jumped from a height of five storeys from the burning balloon, criticized the pilot's actions.
"It doesn't make sense to me that the guy got out first. . . . The lighter the basket, the faster it goes up," Aguilar said Sunday.
Pennock could not be reached Monday, but John Kageorge, a balloon crew member and employee of Fantasy Balloon Charters, said Pennock was helpless in Friday night's crash.
"He was in a ball of fire at the centre of the cockpit," Kageorge said.
No charges have been laid in the crash. The Transportation Safety Board is investigating.
Vancouver Sun
Canadian Pilots response.
BALLOON PILOT ‘SHATTERED’
B.C. CRASH KILLS TWO
CanWest News Service
VANCOUVER • The pilot of a fiery hot-air balloon that crashed in a B.C. field, killing two women, said he is “shaken to the core” by the incident.
Steve Pennock said yesterday he is still recovering from the shock of the hot-air balloon exploding in his face as he prepared to launch it from the Hazelmere RV and Campsite in South Surry on Saturday night.
Canadian Balloon Accident
BALLOON MISHAP: B.C. RIDE: AFTERMATH OF A TRAGEDY
Hot-air balloon pilot's record comes under scrutiny
PATRICK BRETHOUR
August 28, 2007
VANCOUVER -- The pilot of the hot-air balloon that burst into flames on the weekend killing two passengers was convicted of reckless endangerment two decades ago in another perilous ballooning incident.
Even so, his company's website says that he has a perfect flight record and has personally flown 25,000 passengers without incident.
Steven Pennock was fined $250 for endangering the lives of his passengers after the gondola of a balloon he was piloting dipped into Elk Lake on Vancouver Island on Sept. 28, 1985.
During the same flight, a 12-year-old boy - who was not a passenger or crew member - grabbed a rope hanging from the balloon and was suspended 20 metres above the ground.
Mr. Pennock was fined $500 in that incident, on a second charge of reckless endangerment.
His 1987 conviction on the two counts was overturned on appeal.
No fine was paid after the conviction, with an upper court ruling that Mr. Pennock was forced to prove his innocence at trial, when the Crown should have had the onus to prove his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
The incident is not mentioned on the website of Fantasy Balloon Charters, which details Mr. Pennock's safety history.
The website includes a reference that he has a "perfect flight record" after 21 years of commercial flying, and that he has "personally flown in excess of 25,000 clients for the company without incident, an achievement which is unparalleled by any other balloonists in British Columbia."
The pilot was not available for comment yesterday, but the spokesman for Fantasy Balloon, John Kageorge, said it is perfectly correct to say that Mr. Pennock has a perfect flight record, noting that his conviction did not stand and he has not been censured by any regulatory authorities.
"Everything was dropped," Mr. Kageorge said.
However, Mr. Kageorge said that the statement that Mr. Pennock has flown "without incident" may not be accurate, given that a 12-year-old boy was suspended in mid-air from a balloon he was piloting.
"That's a good point. Quite clearly, there was a situation where a stranger, a passerby, grabbed a rope. I suppose we could say that in 24 years of carrying passengers, there have been no accidents and there's been one incident of a stranger passing by grabbing a rope."
Allan Vandekerkhove watched the balloon briefly touch down on his farm north of Victoria, and saw the boy run to grab onto the balloon.
He said in an interview yesterday that he still recalls the event as a terrifying moment. "He hung on for dear life," the 71-year-old said, adding that the boy was pulled inside the gondola before it landed.
As for the gondola hitting water on Elk Lake, Mr. Kageorge characterized that as a "skim-and-go" and a "pretty common occurrence," in which a pilot moves up and down to turn to the left or right.
The ability to execute such a move demonstrates skill, he said, although he later added that Mr. Pennock had intended to perform the manoeuvre in a field beside the lake.
Such a move is not prohibited by any regulation, he noted. "There was no safety violation on the part of the pilot."
Mr. Kageorge also said that there are no parallels between the 1985 incident and the accident on Friday evening, in which a hot-air balloon that Mr. Pennock was piloting caught fire, burned free of its tether and then soared into the sky, blowing apart as its propane tanks caught fire.
A mother and daughter, Shannon and Jemma Knackstedt, died in the accident, and four other people were sent to hospital with serious injuries.
Mr. Kageorge said Mr. Pennock was also injured, although he is no longer in hospital.
Hot-air balloon pilot's record comes under scrutiny
PATRICK BRETHOUR
August 28, 2007
VANCOUVER -- The pilot of the hot-air balloon that burst into flames on the weekend killing two passengers was convicted of reckless endangerment two decades ago in another perilous ballooning incident.
Even so, his company's website says that he has a perfect flight record and has personally flown 25,000 passengers without incident.
Steven Pennock was fined $250 for endangering the lives of his passengers after the gondola of a balloon he was piloting dipped into Elk Lake on Vancouver Island on Sept. 28, 1985.
During the same flight, a 12-year-old boy - who was not a passenger or crew member - grabbed a rope hanging from the balloon and was suspended 20 metres above the ground.
Mr. Pennock was fined $500 in that incident, on a second charge of reckless endangerment.
His 1987 conviction on the two counts was overturned on appeal.
No fine was paid after the conviction, with an upper court ruling that Mr. Pennock was forced to prove his innocence at trial, when the Crown should have had the onus to prove his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
The incident is not mentioned on the website of Fantasy Balloon Charters, which details Mr. Pennock's safety history.
The website includes a reference that he has a "perfect flight record" after 21 years of commercial flying, and that he has "personally flown in excess of 25,000 clients for the company without incident, an achievement which is unparalleled by any other balloonists in British Columbia."
The pilot was not available for comment yesterday, but the spokesman for Fantasy Balloon, John Kageorge, said it is perfectly correct to say that Mr. Pennock has a perfect flight record, noting that his conviction did not stand and he has not been censured by any regulatory authorities.
"Everything was dropped," Mr. Kageorge said.
However, Mr. Kageorge said that the statement that Mr. Pennock has flown "without incident" may not be accurate, given that a 12-year-old boy was suspended in mid-air from a balloon he was piloting.
"That's a good point. Quite clearly, there was a situation where a stranger, a passerby, grabbed a rope. I suppose we could say that in 24 years of carrying passengers, there have been no accidents and there's been one incident of a stranger passing by grabbing a rope."
Allan Vandekerkhove watched the balloon briefly touch down on his farm north of Victoria, and saw the boy run to grab onto the balloon.
He said in an interview yesterday that he still recalls the event as a terrifying moment. "He hung on for dear life," the 71-year-old said, adding that the boy was pulled inside the gondola before it landed.
As for the gondola hitting water on Elk Lake, Mr. Kageorge characterized that as a "skim-and-go" and a "pretty common occurrence," in which a pilot moves up and down to turn to the left or right.
The ability to execute such a move demonstrates skill, he said, although he later added that Mr. Pennock had intended to perform the manoeuvre in a field beside the lake.
Such a move is not prohibited by any regulation, he noted. "There was no safety violation on the part of the pilot."
Mr. Kageorge also said that there are no parallels between the 1985 incident and the accident on Friday evening, in which a hot-air balloon that Mr. Pennock was piloting caught fire, burned free of its tether and then soared into the sky, blowing apart as its propane tanks caught fire.
A mother and daughter, Shannon and Jemma Knackstedt, died in the accident, and four other people were sent to hospital with serious injuries.
Mr. Kageorge said Mr. Pennock was also injured, although he is no longer in hospital.
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
More on the Surry accident
http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/CityandRegion/2007/08/28/4451493-sun.html
Tue, August 28, 2007
Barry McGonigle of Belmont-based Sundance Balloons says safety is always a top priority.
By HANK DANISZEWSKI, SUN MEDIA
When a hot-air balloon went down in flames in the Vancouver suburb of Surrey last Friday, Barry McGonigle got the news first and it hit hard.
One of his own Sundance balloons was in the air nearby at the time.
The horrified Sundance pilot saw the fatal accident and called McGonigle immediately on a cellphone.
McGonigle and his wife, Judy, then watched the television coverage back in London.
"It unfolded before my eyes just like 9/11 when the jets went into the towers. It was just a horrendous night for us," said McGonigle, president of Belmont-based Sundance Balloons, the largest hot-air balloon business in North America.
A fire broke out in the balloon's gondola before it plummeted into a trailer park, destroying several mobile homes. Shannon Knacksted and her daughter, Gemma, of Langley, B.C., were killed.
And although the tragedy involved a rival company, McGonigle said it has tarnished the reputation of the entire industry and comes just two weeks after the worst accident in Sundance's 25-year history.
A Sundance balloon flying near Winnipeg made a hard landing, injuring 11 passengers. The pilot and a passenger suffered the most serious injuries from the balloon's propane burner.
McGonigle believes the passenger involved in the Winnipeg accident has been released from hospital, but the pilot is still facing weeks of treatment for his burns.
Both the Vancouver and the Winnipeg accidents are being investigated by the Transportation Safety Board of Canada.
Earlier this year, a London woman was killed when she fell from a hot air balloon in California.
Sundance Balloons operates 2,500 to 3,000 recreational flights in 14 Canadian centres and carries about 12,000 passengers a year.
The company also manufactures balloons, but did not make the balloons involved in either the Vancouver or Winnipeg accidents.
Sundance has suspended its own flights in Vancouver since the accident as a sign of respect for the victims.
Footage of the plunging, fiery balloon in Vancouver was shown repeatedly on cable networks. McGonigle was interviewed by NBC news following the Vancouver accident and explained the strict safety rules governing the industry.
"All we can tell people is we live our lives by safety. But we are concerned this will scare some people away," said McGonigle, noting the design and manufacture of hot-air balloons is tightly regulated and accidents are rare.
McGonigle said he has not noticed any significant decline in bookings since the accidents but said the situation has been complicated by poor weather, which normally puts a damper on business.
"It's too early to tell."
Tue, August 28, 2007
Barry McGonigle of Belmont-based Sundance Balloons says safety is always a top priority.
By HANK DANISZEWSKI, SUN MEDIA
When a hot-air balloon went down in flames in the Vancouver suburb of Surrey last Friday, Barry McGonigle got the news first and it hit hard.
One of his own Sundance balloons was in the air nearby at the time.
The horrified Sundance pilot saw the fatal accident and called McGonigle immediately on a cellphone.
McGonigle and his wife, Judy, then watched the television coverage back in London.
"It unfolded before my eyes just like 9/11 when the jets went into the towers. It was just a horrendous night for us," said McGonigle, president of Belmont-based Sundance Balloons, the largest hot-air balloon business in North America.
A fire broke out in the balloon's gondola before it plummeted into a trailer park, destroying several mobile homes. Shannon Knacksted and her daughter, Gemma, of Langley, B.C., were killed.
And although the tragedy involved a rival company, McGonigle said it has tarnished the reputation of the entire industry and comes just two weeks after the worst accident in Sundance's 25-year history.
A Sundance balloon flying near Winnipeg made a hard landing, injuring 11 passengers. The pilot and a passenger suffered the most serious injuries from the balloon's propane burner.
McGonigle believes the passenger involved in the Winnipeg accident has been released from hospital, but the pilot is still facing weeks of treatment for his burns.
Both the Vancouver and the Winnipeg accidents are being investigated by the Transportation Safety Board of Canada.
Earlier this year, a London woman was killed when she fell from a hot air balloon in California.
Sundance Balloons operates 2,500 to 3,000 recreational flights in 14 Canadian centres and carries about 12,000 passengers a year.
The company also manufactures balloons, but did not make the balloons involved in either the Vancouver or Winnipeg accidents.
Sundance has suspended its own flights in Vancouver since the accident as a sign of respect for the victims.
Footage of the plunging, fiery balloon in Vancouver was shown repeatedly on cable networks. McGonigle was interviewed by NBC news following the Vancouver accident and explained the strict safety rules governing the industry.
"All we can tell people is we live our lives by safety. But we are concerned this will scare some people away," said McGonigle, noting the design and manufacture of hot-air balloons is tightly regulated and accidents are rare.
McGonigle said he has not noticed any significant decline in bookings since the accidents but said the situation has been complicated by poor weather, which normally puts a damper on business.
"It's too early to tell."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
