Katie Bartrom, Indiana skydiver id as one of four fatalities from Arizona hot air balloon crash near Eloy, Pinal County as investigators seek cause of crash. Balloon had been carrying up to 13 occupants prior to mystery crash.
A hot air balloon crash in the Arizona desert has led to four individuals being killed, including a registered nurse from Indiana.
Leading up to the crash there had been a total of 13 occupants, including eight skydivers, four passengers and a pilot. The skydivers jumped from the aircraft before the incident, leaving five people on board.
Identified as one of the four fatal victims was Katie Bartrom, 28, who died when the hot air balloon she was traveling in crashed Sunday morning. Miraculously there was one survivor, who according to a police media release was seriously injured.
Arizona hot air balloon pilot described as superb & good man
Adventure sports enthusiast
While the other victims had yet to be identified, Bartrom’s mother speaking to ABC15 stated Katie loved skydiving and adventure sports.
Police said the aircraft crashed into the desert around five miles north of the city of Eloy in rural Pinal County at around 7.50am as it set out for a skydiving jaunt.
‘What we know at this point is the skydivers were able to exit the balloon without incident and completed their planned skydiving event, and then shortly thereafter something catastrophic happened with the balloon causing it to crash to the ground,’ Eloy Police Chief Byron Gwaltney told reporters.
Gwaltney said the balloon came from outside of Eloy and the skydivers intended to touch down at the Eloy Municipal Airport, just down the road from the scene of the accident.
‘The incident appeared to occur very quickly,’ he added, calling it ‘an absolute tragedy’ for the community.
Cause of hot air balloon crash unknown
One person was pronounced dead at the scene, while the other three died at a hospital. Another passenger remains in critical condition at a Phoenix trauma center.
‘Out of respect for their privacy, the names of the victims are being withheld at this time pending notification of next of kin,’ the Eloy Police Department said in a press release.
Officials have yet to release any information about the deceased, other than that they are all adults and not all of them hail from Arizona.
In the immediate aftermath, investigators were observed walking across the face of the mangled balloon and folding it up before carrying it away.
Federal agencies including the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration continue to look into the incident.
An NTSB spokesperson said preliminary information shows that the balloon crashed following an ‘unspecified problem’ with its envelope.
Eloy, a small town with a population just over 15,000, and some 65 miles northwest of Phoenix is known as ‘the skydiving capital of the world.’
