‘Devastating’ Hot Air Balloon Crash Kills 4, Wounds 1 in Arizona: Police

A hot air balloon crash in the Arizona desert on Sunday morning left four people dead and one person hospitalized in critical condition, according to local police. The "devastating incident" occurred around 7:30 a.m. when a hot air balloon crash-landed in a rural desert area east of Sunshine Boulevard and Hanna Road and about five miles from Eloy, Arizona, the Eloy Police Department (EPD) said in an online statement. The cause of the crash was unknown as of Sunday night, according to EPD, which noted that the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) were on the scene and have taken over the investigation.

Tony Molinaro, a spokesperson for the FAA, confirmed to Newsweek in an email on Sunday that five people were on board the balloon when it crashed. Molinaro said that NTSB was leading the investigation and would share additional information as it becomes available. Eloy Mayor Micah Powell said during a news conference at the scene on Sunday that 13 people had gone up on the balloon, with eight being skydivers who exited the gondola prior to the crash and were unharmed.

A stock image shows a balloonist landing on a ridge in New Mexico.

A hot air balloon crash in the Arizona desert on January 14, 2023, left four people dead and one injured, officials said. David McNew/Getty

"What we know at this point is the skydivers were able to exit the balloon without incident and completed their planned skydiving event, and then shortly thereafter something catastrophic happened with the balloon causing it to crash to the ground," Eloy Police Chief Byron Gwaltney said during the press conference. Of the five remaining passengers in the gondola when the balloon went down, one person died at the scene, three other people died at a hospital, and the fifth person remains in critical condition. EPD Sergeant Jeremy Sammons told Newsweek on Sunday night that the department was unable to provide additional details at the time.

Sammons said information about the crash victims will not be released until the next of kin have been notified. "The Eloy Police Department extends its deepest condolences to the families and friends of those involved in this heartbreaking incident," the department said. Eloy is a city of about 16,000 residents in Pinal County roughly 50 miles northwest of Tucson and about 65 miles southeast of Phoenix.

Powell described the area as a "close-knit" skydiving community. "Skydivers, they're some special," Powell said. "I've worked with them. I've even skydived myself.

And I know how how devastated they are just from a distance because of how close-knit they are. They live and breathe this sport." The mayor noted that the city has hosted skydiving championships and brings draws tourists from "countries from around the world" to Eloy.

"It's tough when something like this happens to their own," Powell said adding that the skydiving community is a "family." After a 2016 fatal hot air balloon accident [1] in Lockhart, Texas, left 16 dead, the FAA said it took "proactive steps to increase the safety of hot-air balloon tourism." In response to the deadly crash in Texas, the FAA and the Balloon Federation of America (BFA) announced a new safety accreditation program for commercial balloon ride operations in 2017, the FAA said in a statement at the time.

BFA's program requires pilots of balloons that can carry more than four to six passengers to be commercially certificated for at least 18 months, have a specified amount of flight experience and obtain their FAA second-class medical certificate. Pilots also must pass a drug and alcohol background check, according to the FAA. Newsweek reached out via email on Sunday night to the BFA for comment.

Update 1/15/24, 12:20 a.m.

ET: This article has been updated with additional information.

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References

^ 2016 fatal hot air balloon accident (www.newsweek.com)