Balloon death toll ‘worst in history’

Press, 14 August 1989, Page 10

Balloon death toll ‘worst in history’

NZPA-AAP Brisbane A former world balloon champion, Roger Meadmore, yesterday described the Alice Springs balloon crash in which 13 people died as the worst in the history of the sport. “In the 206-year history of ballooning, no balloon that was airworthy and properly maintained has ever crashed,” Mr Meadmore said.

“This is the worst balloon fatality in history and it is a terrible thing for ballooning and a terrible thing for Australian tourism.” He said he was unable to speculate about the cause.

“There has been only one balloon fatality in Australia in the past 15 years and that involved an old-style balloon no longer used.”

Mr Meadmore was navigator for Peter Vizzard when they won the world

hot-air balloon championships in 1983. He now runs a balloon charter company in Brisbane. He said the cause of the crash must have been something very sudden and completely unexpected. “Balloons are made about eight times stronger than they need to be, which can make people a bit cavalier, but I wouldn’t expect that in a commercial operation.”

Mr Meadmore said balloons had to go through the same sort of strict airworthiness checks as any other aircraft.

“Even with 13 people on board and a full load of fuel this balloon would have been flying well within its limit. “Australia has the strictest licensing of balloon pilots in the world and a commercial licence gained here is recognised around the world,” he said.