The identities of the victims killed in a sizzling air balloon crash over the weekend in Arizona have been launched by the Eloy Police Division.
Throughout a press convention on Monday, Eloy Mayor Micah Powell reported the balloon had been carrying 13 adults − the pilot, 4 passengers and eight skydivers, earlier than the balloon crashed into an empty subject in a desert space 65 miles southeast of Phoenix.
“Skydivers have been in a position to exit the balloon with out incident and full their skydiving incident and that is when one thing catastrophic occurred and the balloon crashed to the bottom,” police mentioned in a press release.
Mayor Powell reported that three passengers and the pilot have been amongst these killed within the crash.
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The impression of the crash occurred in “the world’s largest drop zone” for skydivers, Powell mentioned.
Eloy Police Chief Byron Gwaltney recognized the pilot of the new air balloon as Cornelius Van Der Walt, 37, a resident of Eloy who was initially from South Africa. The three passengers who died have been recognized as Chayton Wiescholek, 28, of Union Metropolis, Michigan; Kaitlynn Bartrom, 28, of Andrews, Indiana; and Atahan Kiliccote, 24, of Cupertino, California.
The girl who was critically injured was recognized by police as Valerie Stutterheima, 23, from Scottsdale, Arizona.
“Presently, the Eloy Police Division is actively collaborating with the Nationwide Transportation Security Board (NTSB) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) within the investigation of this incident,” the assertion learn.
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Police added that the skydiving was intentional and was efficiently accomplished by all skydivers earlier than any points with the new air balloon have been evident.
Eyewitnesses informed police that within the final a number of seconds of the impression, the fabric of the new air balloon was simply “straight up and down and the impression was pretty massive”, Powell mentioned in the course of the press convention.
“We prolong our deepest condolences to the households and mates of those that have misplaced their lives on this tragic incident and our ideas are with Ms. Stutterheim as she receives medical care,” police mentioned.
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The crash occurred simply earlier than 8 a.m. on Sunday, January 14.
The NTSB said that investigators had arrived on the scene to doc and study the new air balloon, including that the balloon could be moved to a safe facility for additional investigation.
The reason for the crash was not instantly identified Monday.
