In the accident that took place on Wednesday evening with a hot air balloon at the Friese de Hoeve, one person died. This is reported by the ANP news agency. Five others were injured. There were 34 people in the balloon. Nothing has been announced yet about the identity of the victim.
The balloon, according to, among other things Omrop Fryslân The largest still active sailing balloon in the Netherlands, came down quickly around 9 p.m. The balloon is said to have been working on a ‘neat landing’, but made a few meters above the ground ‘a lot of forward speed’ due to a sudden gust of wind, Monique Hoogslag says of the Royal Dutch Association for Aviation (KNVVL) to the ANP news agency.
“They were almost on the floor and the desk speed was neat. But if the wind blows you further, you get an increasing speed. That made it unusually high,” said Hoogeslag.
Eyewitnesses informed Omrop Fryslân that the hot air balloon bounced on the ground several times during the landing and that people fell out of the basket.