Witness recalls screams then silence as balloon burns
The ground crew chief of a doomed hot air balloon saw passengers panic and scream before the balloon was engulfed in flames and crashed, killing all 11 on board.
Clive Peters was following the balloon on the morning of the accident, on January 7, 2012, and saw it engulfed in flames. ‘‘ Once the envelope was burnt that was it, it dropped.
‘‘ The screaming stopped and it was silent,’’ he read to an inquest in Wellington yesterday.
He had been waiting to help with landing after pilot Lance Hopping, 53, said Somerset Rd near Carterton would be the landing spot.
When the balloon was at about 30ft, he heard Hopping shout to the passengers to duck down below the level of the basket. Peters could then see the basket was caught up on powerlines.
He could see Hopping trying to get lift, and ran towards the balloon to see if he could help.
As he got under it, he saw the powerline would snap and spark, and he ran for it.
‘‘ I heard the passengers panic and scream, then a young woman jumped.’’
He also saw a young man jump before he ran back to his car to get a fire extinguisher.
The passengers who died along with Hopping were Valerie Zillah Bennett, 70; Diana Madge Cox, 63; Howard Cox, 71; Ann Lynette Dean, 70; Desmond Athol Dean, 65; Denise Dellabarca, 58; Belinda Elisabeth Harter, 49; Stephen Robert Hopkirk,
‘‘ Once the envelope was burnt that was it, it dropped. The screaming stopped and it was silent.’’ Clive Peters ground crew chief
50; Johannes Christoffel Jordaan, known as Chrisjan, 21; and Alexis Victoria Still, 19.
Hopping was later found to be a long- term user of cannabis and had a level of THC – the active ingredient of cannabis – of 2 micrograms per litre of blood.
Peters told the inquest that, on the morning of the flight, he organised things such as checking equipment, fuel, liaising with the pilot during the flight, and helping to organise where the pilot was thinking of landing to check for hazards.
Hopping was already at the launch site at 5.30am when he arrived.
He did not see him for 10 to 15 minutes when Hopping was in a shed and he did not know what he was doing.
Peters said he had once seen someone offer cannabis to Hopping, who turned it down. ‘‘ I did not know Lance was using marijuana at all.’’
He did not see Hopping smoking anything the morning of the accident, and he had spoken to him several times.
The inquest, before coroner Ryan, continues today.
Peter