[quote]An inquiry has been launched after a hot air balloon crashed in New Zealand killing everyone on board - five couples and the pilot.
The balloon came down near Carterton, 95 miles north of the capital, Wellington.
It apparently hit power lines and the basket then caught fire.
Two victims are believed to have been killed jumping from the basket to escape the flames.
The 11 on board were five couples from the Wellington area and the pilot.
Witnesses said they saw 10m (32ft)-high flames rising from the basket of the dark blue and maroon striped balloon before it plummeted to the farmland below.
Friends and family comfort one another near the crash scene
One witness who lives close the crash site told the New Zealand Herald some of the victims' relatives waiting nearby told her they had bought the balloon ride tickets for their parents for Christmas.[/quote]
[url]http://news.sky.com/home/world-news/article/16144177[/url]
this is why i would never go in a hot air balloon.
Just heard this on the news.horrible
Terrible. How do you even make the decision to jump? Damned if you do, damned if you don't.
Oh man, knowing that you bought the ticket that killed your parents would be absolutely aweful.
I don't see how an experienced balloon pilot gets caught in power lines, unless...
The weight of the people was more than he was prepared for
Weather conditions were bad, like wind blew them into the lines
Was he familiar with the area
All these are things that sort of suggest pilot error.
[QUOTE=SilentOpp;34097327]Oh man, knowing that you bought the ticket that killed your parents would be absolutely aweful.[/QUOTE]
I hope you meant to write "awful"
I heard on the news that the basket was 200m above the ground, surely power lines aren't that high?
[QUOTE=scotland1;34097499]I heard on the news that the basket was 200m above the ground, surely power lines aren't that high?[/QUOTE]
Pylons can be pretty high.
[QUOTE=Mr._N;34097326]Terrible. How do you even make the decision to jump? Damned if you do, damned if you don't.[/QUOTE]
It's either quick death or slowly suffering while watching other people helplessly perish.
Same reason people jumped out of burning WTC.
Surely you stand more of a chance surviving a fall than being stuck in a burning basket?
Really sucks this happened though ):
[QUOTE=BigSmokeDawg;34097859]Surely you stand more of a chance surviving a fall than being stuck in a burning basket?
Really sucks this happened though ):[/QUOTE]
I'd rather fall to my death than burn to death.
For some imagery
[IMG]http://i42.tinypic.com/301dq34.jpg[/IMG]
:c This is sad.
Oh the humanity!
Really terrible, it must of been horrifying for those poor people :c
[QUOTE=Kaarristu;34098638]For some imagery
[IMG]http://i42.tinypic.com/301dq34.jpg[/IMG]
:c This is sad.[/QUOTE]
Looking at that picture I think it's possible that from that high up the ones who jumped maybe thought there was a chance of landing in the trees and the trees might break their fall. Hey, crazier things have happened.
New Zealand seems a pretty small country but I hear relatively large amounts of terrible news coming from it, the earthquake, deadly mining accident, oil spill etc.
Couples :smith:
Heard this on the radio yesturday, really sad news.
Otherwise it's also quite the way to go. Getting to see all the sights up in the sky before perishing.
[editline]8th January 2012[/editline]
The basket got caught on the powerlines so the pilot turned up the heat to get them away. Unfortunately they probably sprung up too fast and the burner got too close inside the mouth.
[img]http://www.facepunch.com/fp/ratings/heart.png[/img]
[QUOTE=Aokaji;34100799]Really terrible, it must of been horrifying for those poor people :c[/QUOTE]
It probably was, but another horrifying thing is how bad you are at English while you're from the UK.
This is terrifying, probably one of my worst fears is to see someone I love die .
ohm my! What a shocking story. Must've truely been an electrifying experience. Sounds a little hot too...
Now that's just a horrible way to die.
[editline]9th January 2012[/editline]
[QUOTE=Jawouzan;34123304]ohm my! What a shocking story. Must've truely been an electrifying experience. Sounds a little hot too...[/QUOTE]
Now that's just mean.
[QUOTE=Jawouzan;34123304]ohm my! What a shocking story. Must've truely been an electrifying experience. Sounds a little hot too...[/QUOTE]
Oh, come on. All of your puns are hot air.
[QUOTE]
One witness who lives close the crash site told the New Zealand Herald some of the victims' relatives waiting nearby told her [b]they had bought the balloon ride tickets for their parents for Christmas[/b][/QUOTE]
How can you live with your self that you bought the tickets that killed your parents and more people? I hope he wont commit suicide by it
[QUOTE=MILKE;34123913]How can you live with your self that you bought the tickets that killed your parents and more people? I hope he wont commit suicide by it[/QUOTE]
Though it's a stupid reason to end your life, guilt can be very dangerous.
[QUOTE=Mr._N;34097326]Terrible. How do you even make the decision to jump? Damned if you do, damned if you don't.[/QUOTE]
Not really. Assuming you aren't being burned (or even if you are), it's better to stay in the balloon, as your descent is slowed by all of the drag of the flaming cloth.
Many of the people on the hydrogen filled rigid airships in the late 1800s-early 1900s that caught on fire survived because they rode the thing down to the ground, and all of the people that jump obviously died.
this thread had a predictably sharp decline. RIP.
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