SA man dies as hot air balloon falls
A horrific hot air balloon accident in Egypt killed a 34-year-old South African man and injured several others yesterday.
According to one of the most experienced balloon pilots in South Africa, CEO of Cloud9 Balloon Rides Bill Harrop, accidents can happen at any time and without warning, but safety must be the number one priority.
The accident happened 7.30am yesterday in Luxor.
Head of press at the Egyptian Embassy Ayman Walash said strong winds caused a crash landing.
“The man operating the hot air balloon tried to land and because of the strong winds he crashed to the ground.” Two other female South Africans were injured in the accident and are in a stable condition in hospital. The man was pronounced dead on arrival at at a hospital.
The embassy released the names of the victims in Arabic.
Sixteen people were in the hot air balloon at the time, said Walash.
“One is the Egyptian who operates it… five are from Australia, four from France, two from Argentina and one from Brazil.”
Harrop was not sure why the wind came up.
“It may have been throughout the area where the balloons were. Or it may have been a localised disturbance..
“I don’t know about the qualifications of the pilot... whether he was new or very experienced, but in an environment where there are many balloons flying and many companies all competing for the business, there can be a lot of peer pressure on companies and their individual pilots to fly.
“What they need to look at is how experienced the pilot was and the company’s approach to safety.”
In South Africa, Harrop said balloon companies do not pressurise pilots.
“If the pilot is not happy, he doesn’t fly.
“Things can go wrong and you have to be on the right side of the line. In this country we have a very high standard to meet for all balloon pilots.
“Egypt possibly has different laws about the qualifications pilots must have. In SA, balloon pilots have to have exactly the same qualifications as commercial fixed-wing pilots,” Harrop said.
“We study meteorology and go into micro-meteorology to get a better understanding of what happens in the sort of air that planes and helicopters don’t fly in.”
Most companies will cancel rides if a pilot is on the balloon field and the weather changes.
Should the weather change mid-flight, the pilot will land, he added.