Mexican hot air balloon pilot arrested after couple dies in crash
The pilot of a hot air balloon that burned and crashed in Mexico City — killing a husband and wife and hospitalizing their 13-year-old daughter — has been arrested for fleeing the scene.
Victor Guzman was taken into custody after the balloon he was piloting plummeted over Teotihuacan on Saturday — causing the death of Jose Nolasco, 50, and his 39-year-old wife Viridiana Becerril.
Their daughter, Regina Itzani, jumped more than 130 feet from the balloon and suffered a broken arm and second-degree burns.
Guzman lept 16 feet from the balloon and told Mexican officials that he abandoned the balloon because he didn’t know how to respond when it caught on fire, the Daily Mail reports.
The pilot had also suffered burn injuries from the incident.
He has since been discharged from the hospital.
Horrifying video of the incident shows the balloon’s basket covered in flames as bystanders yelled in panic when the tethered balloon began rising in the sky.
The balloon then wilts and the gondola is hurled to the ground as the occupants fall out of the sky.
Throughout the incident, a male voice, likely Nolasco’s, could be heard shouting “Help me,” in Spanish.
The family had tragically taken a photo together just before the ride, which was set up as a birthday present for Viridiana on behalf of her husband and daughter, according to the Mail.
The joy ride was set to let the family watch over the pre-Hispanic ruin site of Teotihuacan, a popular tourist area that overlooks Aztec pyramids.
Regina’s grandmother, Reyna Gloria Sarmiento, told the Mail she is recovering in the hospital and told family members she hugged her parents before jumping out of the balloon.
The Federal Aviation Agency is leading the investigation into the incident and looking into whether the hot air balloon company involved, Autocinema Retroviso, had a license to operate and the proper insurance to cover accidents.
Although there are about 3,000 hot air balloon accidents every year, fatal accidents are extremely rare.
The National Transportation Safety Board estimates that only 16 people have died in hot air balloon accidents in the US between 2002 and 2016.
