Five couples and pilot dead as hot air balloon crashes in New Zealand

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A hot air balloon carrying 11 people turned into a horrifying tower of 'sheer flame' this morning after hitting power lines in rural New Zealand, killing all those riding on-board.

Police said five couples and the pilot, Lance Hopping, were killed when the hot air balloon crashed near Wellington in an area that is popular with thrill-seeking tourists.

Local Mayor Ron Mark said those on board were a mix of local people and tourists. Early reports suggested a fire had started in the basket, causing the canopy to ignite, resulting in the apparatus plunging to the ground in flames, giving no hope for those on board.

Scorch marks in a field show where the hot air balloon carrying five couples and a pilot crashed 

Eye witnesses said they saw flames rising from the balloon's basket before it plummeted to earth

Emergency crews survey the crash site from a fire service cherry picker as they cordon off the road running past through the town of Carterton

One witness said that amid screams from those in the basket, two of the passengers had jumped out to avoid the flames as it plunged.

The pilot and five couples from the Wellington area, about 95 miles (150 kilometers) south of the crash site, were killed. According to reports, at least one couple received their tickets on the balloon trip as a present.

Some of the bodies were badly burned, said Superintendent Mike Rusbatch, a police district commander in Wellington, the capital.

'It's a tragedy as bad as tragedies get,' local police commander Brent Register said. Superintedent Rusbatch said it appeared the balloon's basket struck power lines that set a fire on board.

Tragic: A police officer approaches grieving people grieving at a police road block near the scene of the crash 

Shock: Relatives and friends in grief at the scene of the crash. The tragic accident was witnessed by dozens of locals

Witnesses told local media of seeing 32ft (10m) high flames rising from the basket of the dark blue and maroon striped balloon before it plummeted to the farmland below.

Bevan Lambeth said the basket was on fire 'and the power lines were holding the basket down, but it was still about 50m (165ft) in the air. Then the whole basket started to go up in flames,' as the balloon broke clear of the electric lines.

'I saw ... (it) then go straight up in the air and the flames just engulfed the whole balloon and it crashed to the ground. When it came down it came down really quickly,' he told TVOne News.

An aerial photo of the crash site shows two circles of black ash in a green field, close to a white house.

Rusbatch, the police commander, said two people jumped from the basket before it hit the ground, but did not survive.

'We believe we know who the victims were,' he told the news website Stuff. '... A tragedy for those involved and their families.'

Balloon pilot Lance Hopping, one of those killed in the hot air balloon accident that killed eleven people in Carterton, New Zealand, this morning

The only victim publicly identified so far is the pilot and balloon owner, Lance Hopping. He was safety officer for the Balloons over Wairarapa annual event, and was considered an experienced and safety-conscious pilot.

David McKinlay, who lives near the crash site near the small town of Carterton witnessed the crash as he was watering his garden. He said it looked as if the pilot had tried to take the balloon higher.

'It was just flames and it was just a long streak of flames, probably about 10 meters long. The impact must have been terrible.'

Mr McKinlay said the dark blue and maroon-striped balloon was about 150m in the air and dropped quickly.

'It was just a sheer flame as it hit the ground,' he said. 'It came down like a bloody rocket and there there was a big bang.'

Trout fisherman Kevin Curd saw the balloon disappear behind a hill and then, within five seconds 'it was blue grey smoke. It shot down but there were no flames then.'

The crash has shocked the small farming community on the North Island. Mrs Aurea Hickland watched in horror as the balloon came down. 'It was just terrible,' she told the New Zealand Herald.

'We were just having breakfast and we have big windows that face out onto where the balloon was coming down.

'I got up to have a cup of tea and I looked out the window and saw the balloon coming down. But then it started to shoot up in the air. 'I said to my husband "Oh no, the basket's on fire, the basket's on fire."

'And it shot up in the air, which I guess was because of the heat and we saw two people jump out and everyone was screaming - the screaming was just terrible - and then when the canopy went up flames it just dropped.

'It was going up at a very big rate. I wouldn't like to say how high but it was a very long way up.'

Grim: District Commander, Superintendent Mike Rusbatch, left, with Wairarapa Area Commander, Inspector Brent Register speak to the media near the crash scene

Police have cordoned off the impact zone around where the balloon landed in Carterton, on New Zealand's north island

Mrs Hickland said that when she saw two people jump she told her husband Neil: 'They won't survive it.'

She added: 'It was just awful. Neil ran out and then came back with two of the family members (who were waiting for the balloon to land) and one was saying that they had bought the tickets for their parents for Christmas. They just kept saying "How are we going to tell our children?"'

Conditions were described as perfect at the time of the horror incident, which occurred close to 7.30am on Saturday, New Zealand time.

This map shows the location of Carterton, New Zealand, where the horrifying balloon crash happened

Resident Don Cunningham told TVNZ that he heard screaming and shouting and then 'suddenly a big pall of smoke.'

The balloon was a Cameron A-210, which can carry 10 passengers and a pilot.
New Zealand Transport Minister Gerry Brownlee expressed condolences to the bereaved families on behalf of the government.

'We are deeply sorry to learn of this tragic accident and our hearts go out to those who are now mourning the loss of life,' Mr Brownlee said.

New Zealand's Transport Accident Investigation Commission opened an immediate inquiry. Investigating officer Peter Williams said investigators had looked at the crash site but had yet to begin witness interviews. The investigation could take up to a year, he said.

The crash was the deadliest air disaster in New Zealand since 1963, when a DC-3 airliner crashed in the Kaimai Range, killing all 23 passengers and crew aboard, according to the History Group of the New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage.

In 1979, an Air New Zealand DC-10 airliner on a scenic flight slammed into Mount Erebus in Antarctica, killing all 257 people on board.

(dailymail.co.uk)

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