A couple burn to death and their daughter barely survives a Hot Air Balloon ride

hollydolly

hollydolly

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London England
...as the balloon goes up in flames.

Horrific footage today of a couple and their daughter who took a Hot Air Balloon ride.. and it burst into flames. Their daughter jumped from the basket.. miraculously surviving but with broken bones while the 50 year old and his 39 year old wife burned to death in Mexico...

Video posted to social media by horrified onlookers shows the balloon descending rapidly as it bursts into flames. The chilling footage also shows occupants appearing to either fall or jump from the craft, all to onlookers' dismay.

The pair's daughter, identified as Regina Itzani, was also on the balloon, cops said, but is expected to survive. She is thought to have jumped from the balloon, sustaining a broken arm and second-degree burns in the process.

Reports concerning her age have so far been conflicted, with some indicating she was 13 and others saying she was 23. A pilot also may have been on the balloon - which had been flying over a pre-Hispanic pyramid site - but has yet to be located.

69389893-11930105-The_accident_took_place_in_Mexico_City_Saturday_and_claimed_the_-m-15_1680440627513.jpg
Yesterday


https://videos.dailymail.co.uk/prev...331202451/636x382_MP4_7633567073331202451.mp4


R.I.P to this couple, who died doing what they enjoyed.. so sad.... and prayers for their daughter....

but this begs the question...

Have you ever taken a Hot Air Balloon ride, and if not..would you ?
 

I haven't , but Hot air Balloons fly over my house a lot so I'm very familiar with them, plus a long time friend has a stake in one along with a group of people.. so I've seen them up close and personal , and even been in the basket, but not flown, and I absolutely would not, because I have a fear of heights, and it's ok in a plane where I'm enclosed or even paragliding which I love because I'm well and truly strapped in , but a Balloon, you're not enclosed in any way aside from the basket..
 

I have, in Cappadocia, Turkey several years ago. We took off at the crack of dawn and there were 101 balloons in the air that day. There were 20 people in the large basket.

It was incredible as the pilots took us up and down over the "fairy chimneys" and down in the valleys to see the cave villages.

Ours was one of the first balloons to take off, so we got to watch the others rising from the valleys, all lit up from within.

It wasn't cheap, but it was definitely worth it. When we landed, we had wine and snacks, and were given a picture of our group plus a certificate.

I'd do it again!
 
Twice. I have to admit that I was very nervous the first time. Don’t tell my wife. She was fine with it. In fact, she acted like a little kid with a new toy. Our kids bought us a certificate for an anniversary gift. I wasn’t really impressed. I thought it was hot. We did the first one in July. The second ride was in Ictober and was much better.
 
Regarding the number of fatal accidents at hot air balloon rides, they seem to be very rare. Riding a car seems to me more dangerous. But I haven't been on a balloon yet and don't need it either.
 
George1959 said:
Regarding the number of fatal accidents at hot air balloon rides, they seem to be very rare. Riding a car seems to me more dangerous. But I haven't been on a balloon yet and don't need it either.
Click to expand...
I hate when people compare driving a car to other things where fatalities are concerned. If there was as many (in this case) Hot air Balloons at any one time in the skies as there are cars on the road.. I have no doubt the fatalities would be much higher
 
oldman said:
Twice. I have to admit that I was very nervous the first time. Don’t tell my wife. She was fine with it. In fact, she acted like a little kid with a new toy. Our kids bought us a certificate for an anniversary gift. I wasn’t really impressed. I thought it was hot. We did the first one in July. The second ride was in Ictober and was much better.
Click to expand...
it's quite amusing getting a review of a hot air Balloon from an Airline pilot.. apart from the obvious OM.. how did it feel being high in the sky in a basket.. compared to being in the Cockpit ? :D
 
hollydolly said:
...as the balloon goes up in flames.

Horrific footage today of a couple and their daughter who took a Hot Air Balloon ride.. and it burst into flames. Their daughter jumped from the basket.. miraculously surviving but with broken bones while the 50 year old and his 39 year old wife burned to death in Mexico...

Video posted to social media by horrified onlookers shows the balloon descending rapidly as it bursts into flames. The chilling footage also shows occupants appearing to either fall or jump from the craft, all to onlookers' dismay.

The pair's daughter, identified as Regina Itzani, was also on the balloon, cops said, but is expected to survive. She is thought to have jumped from the balloon, sustaining a broken arm and second-degree burns in the process.

Reports concerning her age have so far been conflicted, with some indicating she was 13 and others saying she was 23. A pilot also may have been on the balloon - which had been flying over a pre-Hispanic pyramid site - but has yet to be located.

69389893-11930105-The_accident_took_place_in_Mexico_City_Saturday_and_claimed_the_-m-15_1680440627513.jpg
Yesterday


https://videos.dailymail.co.uk/prev...331202451/636x382_MP4_7633567073331202451.mp4


R.I.P to this couple, who died doing what they enjoyed.. so sad.... and prayers for their daughter....

but this begs the question...

Have you ever taken a Hot Air Balloon ride, and if not..would you ?
Click to expand...
I have and it was beautiful early morning ride.
 
George1959 said:
Regarding the number of fatal accidents at hot air balloon rides, they seem to be very rare. Riding a car seems to me more dangerous. But I haven't been on a balloon yet and don't need it either.
Click to expand...
Yes, statistically, driving seems more dangerous. And we hear the same thing about flying. But it's not quite as simple as that.
If my car stops, I'm not going to fall from several thousand feet up.
 
I don't like heights either, and wouldnt feel safe in something with an open area just below the gas light.
Its a tragedy whats happened ,hope the daughter recovers well .
 
I would have gone on one when I was younger but probably not now. Where I lived in Nebraska I was apparently on some balloon flight plan area because lots of balloons were going by in nice weather. Only once one had to come down, I'm not sure what the problem was but they barely skimmed over my roof and yelled a request to land on my property (as if they had a choice, ha ha). Lucky for me I was not on a skittish horse at the time but merely holding my calm horse on a lead, she took it all in stride, I guess she must have seen a lot more balloons going by than I did since she was outside all the time.

Pre-covid when I was signing up for my sadly-never-to-be trip to Africa, there was a balloon ride option (over migrating animals and associated African predators), but between the expense and the early start time I decided to skip it.
 
HoneyNut said:
I would have gone on one when I was younger but probably not now. Where I lived in Nebraska I was apparently on some balloon flight plan area because lots of balloons were going by in nice weather. Only once one had to come down, I'm not sure what the problem was but they barely skimmed over my roof and yelled a request to land on my property (as if they had a choice, ha ha). Lucky for me I was not on a skittish horse at the time but merely holding my calm horse on a lead, she took it all in stride, I guess she must have seen a lot more balloons going by than I did since she was outside all the time.

Pre-covid when I was signing up for my sadly-never-to-be trip to Africa, there was a balloon ride option (over migrating animals and associated African predators), but between the expense and the early start time I decided to skip it.
Click to expand...
that's such a great view ( excuse the pun) of Hot air balloons, never gave it a thought as to what animals.. especially horse would react to them...
 
My oldest brother made a hot air balloon out of dry cleaning bags, with a burner to heat up air. Not big enough to carry anything but a good 6 ft wide. It sort of filled up and then caught fire before it left the ground (luckily). That, and this story, make me not so likely to fly in one!
 
How horrible! I feel so sorry for that girl...to lose both parents in such a terrible way. May their souls R.I.P. and may the daughter heal well, both physically and emotionally. She is going to need a lot of love, support and perhaps counseling to get through this.
 
hollydolly said:
it's quite amusing getting a review of a hot air Balloon from an Airline pilot.. apart from the obvious OM.. how did it feel being high in the sky in a basket.. compared to being in the Cockpit ? :D
Click to expand...
No comparison. I just wanted it to be over. The first time, the pilot (pilot, yeah right) had problems with regulating the amount of pressure needed to stay aloft, as he put it. It’s like driving a car. If you’re not the driver, it makes you (me) nervous.
 
The second trip up in a balloon was with a different company. It went better, but when we would fly over a river, it kind of made me nervous. I enjoyed the view, but that was about the extent of the enjoyment I got.

Being in the cockpit and having my hands and feet on the controls makes me feel right at home. I encountered a balloon back in the days when I flew a small Embraer jet at Air Wisconsin. The balloon had no right to be there as he was in a no fly zone and altitude. We were within the 2 mile final area into the airport and that is all restricted area. Big jets also flew in and out of that area. I could have done a lot of damage to him, his balloon and his passengers. Another plane alerted the tower and they sent a helicopter up to force him down.
 

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