13 fall to deaths in balloon crash

Press, 14 August 1989, Page 1

13 fall to deaths in balloon crash

NZPA-AAP Alice Springs Thirteen people plummeted hundreds of metres to their death yesterday after the hot-air balloon taking them on a dawn joyride near Alice Springs deflated after an apparent collision with another balloon.

Eye-witnesses said.. the wicker gondola carrying the pilot and 12 passengers fell about 600 m after the balloon’s tip struck the underside of another balloon’s gondola soon after 10.30 a.m. (New Zealand time) about 15km south of Alice Springs airport. A Civil Aviation Authority spokesman said the collision appeared to have been the cause of the plunge. The police said all 13 people were believed to have died instantly on impact with the ground. Eye-witnesses said the bodies of three victims were found some distance from the crumpled gondola, suggesting they jumped at the last moment.

Late yesterday, the police had not released the names of the victims. Most were believed to be Australian tourists.

Mr Ken Watts, who was flying another balloon in the area at the

time of the crash, said he was sickened by the sight of the stricken balloon. He said he noticed it falling in a “semideformed state.” “I couldn’t believe what I was seeing when the balloon just completely deflated and plummeted straight down to the earth. I can assure you, it was -a ; sickening sight. “I just followed it visually down to the ground until the load struck the ground.” Mr Watts said he could make no estimate of how long the balloon took to fall. “When you see something as horrific as that was it seemed to take an eternity, but it might have been a very short space of time.” Passengers aboard the other balloon involved in the suspected collision were at an Alice Springs hotel being treated by doctors for shock. The police took almost three hours to remove the bodies from the crumpled gondola. Some were wedged tightly into the bottom of the heavy-woven basket. Police Inspector Maurie Burke said the condition of the gondola

and the bodies indicated it had fallen from a great height. The gondola was ripped apart by its impact with the ground, and the shoes, hats and other belongings of the dead were strewn up to four metres away.

The balloon fabric lay in a heap beside the basket, which landed between two small trees in open scrub land.

The crashed balloon was run by a locally owned company, Toddy’s Ballooning, managed by Mr Michael Sanby. A company spokesman said Mr Sanby was not the pilot. Mr Sanby’s brother, John, manages another Alice Springs hotair balloon company, Outback Ballooning. A Civil Aviation Authority spokesman said none of the three companies running balloon flights from Alice Springs had been ordered to suspend flights. Eye-witnesses said four hot-air balloons were airborne nearby at the time of the crash after lifting off from the Santa Teresa Road about 25km south-east of Alice Springs.

Tourists thankful, page 8 Report, picture, page 10