Hot Air Balloon Crash in Eloy, AZ

News stories say the balloon streamered out of the sky after 9 skydivers left the basket. I'm wondering if one of them snagged the rope that rips out the deflation panel in the top of the envelope.

Riding a streamer down to the ground has to be a horrible way to leave this life. My condolences to those that lost loved ones and friends. The sudden departure of the four will leave a void in the lives of many people, and I hope they will find solace in the memories of good times with them.
 
“The aircraft was an A-160 passenger balloon manufactured by Cameron Balloons, according to the NTSB. The model can carry a pilot and up to seven riders, the manufacturer’s website says“

And there were 13 people in the balloon?
 
Timbeck2 said:
“The aircraft was an A-160 passenger balloon manufactured by Cameron Balloons, according to the NTSB. The model can carry a pilot and up to seven riders, the manufacturer’s website says“

And there were 13 people in the balloon?
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FAA max weight 3,200 lbs, which is likely the max lift. Envelope weight 334. Plus burners and basket, so probably plenty of capacity left; it did fly.
Could just snagging the parachute line lead to streaming? I'd think not. Or did the rip panel (as we called it back in the day) get pulled? There is an optional "reversible" quick dump, as well, which could have saved the day, if it was activated.
 
Kenny Phillips said:
FAA max weight 3,200 lbs, which is likely the max lift. Envelope weight 334. Plus burners and basket, so probably plenty of capacity left; it did fly.
Could just snagging the parachute line lead to streaming? I'd think not. Or did the rip panel (as we called it back in the day) get pulled? There is an optional "reversible" quick dump, as well, which could have saved the day, if it was activated.
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I have only taken a ride in a balloon once and never piloted one. But 9 skydivers probably means 1,800 lbs or so. How would a 3,200 lbs maximum weight balloon behave after suddenly shedding over half that weight? Badly enough to cause a failure and/or cause the PIC to make a mistake and cause a failure?
 
The balloon is not a A-160. Internet is wrong. Kubíček BB85Z 300 is now reported. The balloon was a 16 passenger model. They have to set up a descent before the skydivers depart to avoid collapsing the envelope when the balloon goes up when the weight departs. Too much or too little is dangerous. Guessing that on Tuesday, someone at a FAA desk will do an emergency action to only allow skydivers and the pilot who is a rated skydiver on board for jumping from hot air balloons, unless there is an actual mechanical issue here. No PAX. Having eight bodies depart at once would be a change. . . Tragic, but it does seem to be a flight maneuver that probably should not involve passengers. If aerobatics in fixed wing airplanes are regulated. . . then. . .
 
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The balloon pilot was a very well known jumper and balloon pilot who did this all the time. Terrible to hear and a lot of the grapevine is saying all of the passengers who perished were also skydivers that did not wear a rig, but went as ballast for the jumpers. I think having passengers is somewhat required on these bigger envelopes to give them some loading for the ride down after the skydivers exit.

The grapevine also says 8 skydivers exited at once, which led to streamering the balloon after the sudden uprise collapsed the top of the envelope. The pilot was said to be very safety conscious and normally never allowed more than 4 skydivers or 6 lighter ones to exit simultaneously and some are worried it was against his instructions to exit at once.
 
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Seanaldinho said:
Oh come on, people are dead barely a day ago. At least one of whom I knew, which you didn't know but should've had the common courtesy to recognize the poor taste of such a statement.
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Did not consider the context. Sorry. Original deleted.
 
“grapevine also says 8 skydivers exited at once, which led to streamering the balloon after the sudden uprise collapsed the top of the envelope. The pilot was said to be very safety conscious and normally never allowed more than 4 skydivers or 6 lighter ones to exit simultaneously”.

This just adds to the idea that all it takes is a couple of jumpers who are relatively unconcerned with the whole idea of weight and balance. Fixed wing pilots have to deal with this, as a few YTube videos attest to.
 
skyking3286 said:
The balloon is not a A-160. Internet is wrong. Kubíček BB85Z 300 is now reported. The balloon was a 16 passenger model. They have to set up a descent before the skydivers depart to avoid collapsing the envelope when the balloon goes up when the weight departs. Too much or too little is dangerous. Guessing that on Tuesday, someone at a FAA desk will do an emergency action to only allow skydivers and the pilot who is a rated skydiver on board for jumping from hot air balloons, unless there is an actual mechanical issue here. No PAX. Having eight bodies depart at once would be a change. . . Tragic, but it does seem to be a flight maneuver that probably should not involve passengers. If aerobatics in fixed wing airplanes are regulated. . . then. . .
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Don't think that's a bad idea - somehow mixing pax who just want a ride with skydivers who want to depart the basket (and apparently en masse this time) doesn't seem to make sense at all. If the conversation really went along the lines implied here that a conservative pilot was somehow convinced that allowing more mass than usual to leave at once, then it's doubly tragic. Never knew of this issue until this tragedy - that the envelope could collapse in such a maneuver.

One balloon ride under my belt. Likely the first and last.
 
It's not unusual to carry non jumping passengers on jump flights in airplanes. Normally they're not people off the street who want a plane ride, they're other jumpers who just want to go along, or interested people who want to observe before taking the plunge themselves.
 
Dana said:
It's not unusual to carry non jumping passengers on jump flights in airplanes. Normally they're not people off the street who want a plane ride, they're other jumpers who just want to go along, or interested people who want to observe before taking the plunge themselves.
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So they're invested pax. Balloons seem to uniquely target pax off the street with images of peace, champagne, and sunsets in the ads. Then they hear the burner.
 
Steamflyer said:
So they're invested pax. Balloons seem to uniquely target pax off the street with images of peace, champagne, and sunsets in the ads. Then they hear the burner.
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if you look at the bios of the people deceased in this flight that stayed in the Balloon it appears that they were skydivers mostly observing and also invested. The guy’s website was pretty unique for a balloon outfit website.
 
RyanShort1 said:
if you look at the bios of the people deceased in this flight that stayed in the Balloon it appears that they were skydivers mostly observing and also invested. The guy’s website was pretty unique for a balloon outfit website.
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So they might well have known that having eight of their colleagues depart at once was contraindicated. Interesting.
 
Seanaldinho said:
The grapevine also says 8 skydivers exited at once, which led to streamering the balloon after the sudden uprise collapsed the top of the envelope. The pilot was said to be very safety conscious and normally never allowed more than 4 skydivers or 6 lighter ones to exit simultaneously and some are worried it was against his instructions to exit at once.
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Say the PIC instructed the meatbags to stagger their departure but they went all at once anyway, could a DA bring these guys up on charges?
 
Bill said:
Say the PIC instructed the meatbags to stagger their departure but they went all at once anyway, could a DA bring these guys up on charges?
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It's a good question. There is almost certainly video of what happened. The pilot, Cornelius, normally had a 360 camera attached to the basket, which if it survived should have pretty conclusive evidence. Plus between 8 skydivers there should be at least 6 cameras...

I'm not commercially rated nor do I know the commercial regs, but it should fall under similar rules to if you were operating a commercial fixed wing flight and a passenger interfered outside of or in contrary to the pilot's instructions that led to an incident. Any precedent for that?

The waiver they signed likely also had some stipulations about obeying pilot commands.
 
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