A hot air balloon flight turned tragic this week after a passenger fell 1,500 feet out of the basket… and it appears the cops did everything they could to cover up the consequences.
A male passenger fell without warning from a commercial hot air balloon on Monday – which took off from Melbourne – less than 30 minutes into the journey. The body reportedly landed in a residential area with the hot air balloon making a safe landing many miles away.
According to local witnesses… many suburban residents didn’t realize what had happened until the sirens were heard. In fact, a loud bang was heard before emergency crews arrived.
The incident caused several power lines to go down and a large police presence to block the local street from morning traffic.
Although the tragedy is not treated as suspicious, the police speak to the other occupants of the balloon to try to deduce what exactly caused the unexpected fall.
The National Commercial Hot Air Balloon Industry and the Australian Ballooning Federation have spoken out about the tragedy, assuring people that hot air balloon baskets are designed to prevent passengers from falling out… so it’s unclear what could have caused this.
They say the operator will provide psychological support and counseling for affected witnesses.
This marks the second hot air balloon tragedy this year. Recall that four people died in Arizona in January after a hot air balloon crashed during a skydiving excursion. A preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board later said the envelope was already empty and the burner was still on before the hot air balloon crashed into the ground.
It just goes to show… hot air ballooning can be dangerous.