Germany - three dead after a small plane crashes into house after colliding with a hot air balloon

[slb]

https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/world/germany-three-dead-after-small-plane-crashes-into-house-after-colliding-with-hot-air-balloon/ar-BB17boIK?ocid=msedgdhp#image=2

[flying dog]

HOW CAN THIS HAPPEN?

 

Unless the plane was flying so fast they didn't see the balloon.....

(Not really. It was a small plane with 3 PAX, so not mil' spec')

 

The balloon was invisible.......

 

The pilot had their eyes closed........

 

Shudder.

[Flightrite]

Plenty of blind spots in some light A/C. Combine that with gadgets to look at and play with distracting the drivers means this event is not that unusual!

[Old Koreelah]

Low cloud? Low-visibility colours on the balloon? Distracts by passenger? Misjudged a turn? Mishandling a close inspection?

 

As with navigating on water, there is a common-sense hierarchy: powered aircraft give way to gliders; everyone gives way to balloons.

[aro]

There are some suggestions that it wasn't a balloon, it was a failed BRS parachute from the aircraft. We need more information I think.

[onetrack]

There was no hot air balloon involved. This is a failure of the media to do cross-checking. There's no photos of any crashed balloon, and no authorities mention any hot air balloon being involved.

 

What the German news source says, quoting local authorities, is that a composite light aircraft crashed into the attic of a house. A woman and child lived in the house.

The woman who lived in the house was found deceased, the child was rescued, with injuries. Two bodies were found in the aircraft wreckage - of which, apparently little remains.

 

There is no mention of any hot air balloon victims, nor of any hot air balloon crashing.

A ballistic parachute has been found, and witnesses stated they saw a parachute falling - thus leading to the impression it was a hot air balloon.

 

I would have to opine the pilot didn't follow correct ballistic parachute procedures, and possibly fired the parachute whilst travelling at excessive speed, thus tearing the parachute away from the aircraft.

The Wesel Police stated they had found parts of the aircraft away from the crash site, indicating an in-flight break-up of some kind.

If the BRP tore out of the airframe, I would expect the airframe would have suffered serious structural damage.

 

https://www1.wdr.de/nachrichten/rheinland/kleinflugzeug-absturz-wesel-100.html