On Wednesday evening around 9 p.m. the largest hot air balloon in the Netherlands came down too hard in a meadow near the Frisian village of De Hoeve. In addition, a 66-year-old woman from the Frisian municipality of Opsterland died. Of the 32 people on board, 5 were further injured, 3 of them were serious. Eyewitnesses Omrop Fryslân Knowing that the balloon bounced on the ground several times during landing and that passengers were hurled out of the basket.
Every year around eight thousand balloon trips are made in the Netherlands, on average 65,000 passengers sail. Fatal accidents are rare, the last time this fore in the Netherlands, was in 1993.
“Something extremely extremely happened yesterday, an exception,” says Monique Hoogeslag, spokesperson for the Royal Dutch Aviation Association. At 8 p.m. the red-purple air balloon from Greetzz Ballonvaarten from Joure rose. This balloon from year 2023 is the largest hot air balloon in the Netherlands and offers space for 32 passengers, a pilot and a co-pilot. According to Hoogeslag, the pilot in question was ‘very experienced’ and there were no more than 34 people on board.
This aerial photo shows that the basket has left two deep tracks in the pasture.
Photo Jilmer Postma/ANP
Wind
The weather forecast would also have been in order and there were already several balloons in the air. The size of the balloon also does not matter to determine the course and landing, says Hoogeslag. “Big or small: balloons go with the wind.”
According to Hoogeslag, the balloon had almost landed and was “the desk speed.” However, “the forward speed suddenly increased”, presumably due to a strong gust of wind. On aerial photos, two towing tracks can be seen, which shows that the wicker basket has been pulled through the grassland tens of meters.
Normally the basket of a hot air balloon lands upright. In wind, the basket can be used during landing to brake, then it drags over the ground. The interrupted towing track in the Frisian pasture “is more common,” says Hoogeslag. According to her, it would also not indicate that the basket bumped through the pasture. Whether the 66-year-old woman died due to the accident or “because of another cause,” according to Hooglag, it is not known.
Whether Wednesday was a predicted, strong gust of wind, KNMI could not say Thursday
During the landing it is common for passengers to get to the knees and hold on to ropes in the basket to catch the blow. “Before the start, in the basket and just before landing, the pilot says three times’ holding and getting through the knees,” says Hoogeslag. She assumes that this time the very experienced pilot has communicated ‘to protocol’.
The Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI) provides a current one balloon flight forecast Data out on the basis of which balloonists can determine whether they sail or not. This expectation consists of a weather model that makes an estimate of the wind, the vision, the clouds, possible precipitation and the temperature. In addition, the KNMI can warn of gusts of wind. Whether Wednesday was a predicted, strong gust of wind, KNMI could not say Thursday.
In the direct hours after the accident, the aviation police investigated the cause of the accident. The Dutch Safety Board also conducts research.
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