Balloon’s tragic end described
On its fatal flight, Lance Hopping’s balloon skirted powerlines for up to seven minutes before getting caught under the wires, at times travelling as low as five metres above the ground.
Passengers on the Wairarapa flight on January 7 struggled to push away from the wires as the basket slid underneath them, the interim report issued by the Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC) shows.
It includes a detailed description of the events leading up to contact with the powerlines, and the horrific moments shortly afterwards as the basket caught fire.
After taking off at 6.38am, the balloon ascended to 450 metres and drifted slowly southeast before moving back to the north.
While the ground crew parked up just north of Carterton to wait, the balloon continued to slowly travel north then east for the next 30 minutes.
As it prepared to land, the balloon descended to within 5m of the ground, near buildings and paddock sprinklers, as relatives of some of the victims reported noticing an ‘‘isolated gust of wind’’.
The balloon then veered sharply towards the lines, and Mr Hopping was heard yelling ‘‘Duck down’’ to passengers before the balloon rose into the wires and became stuck.
By this stage, it had been travelling parallel to the powerlines for up to seven minutes, TAIC investigator in charge Ian Mcclelland said.
As passengers tried to push away and the basket slid beneath the lines, an electrical arcing occurred, igniting the lower basket.
‘‘Two of the passengers jumped from the burning basket and, shortly after that, the powerline lying across the top of the basket broke and the balloon then ascended rapidly,’’ the report says.
It shot up 150m before the envelope collapsed in flames and the balloon crashed into a field.
As rescuers arrived, they found one of the tanks still venting gas.
Balloon Aviation Association president Martyn Stacey said flying near powerlines was discouraged.
‘‘My personal view is that powerlines frighten the hell out of me . . . but clearly Lance had seen them and knew where they were.’’ The question remained why Mr Hopping did not use his balloon’s emergency deflation device, he said.
‘‘I would like to think I would have pulled out way before then, but obviously he didn’t make that decision and something has suddenly happened.’’
The report contains no analysis of the crash facts, nor any recommendations or lessons to be learned. Those would be reserved for the final report due next March, a TAIC spokesman said.
Further lines of inquiry included whether any malfunction contributed to the crash, the regulatory framework for balloonists, and a review of other wire strikes around the world.
In February, preliminary findings released by TAIC showed the balloon was not airworthy