'One of the best': Pilot of Arizona hot air balloon crash defended by those who knew him
As federal officials investigate a deadly hot air balloon crash in Eloy, those who knew the balloon's pilot said he was experienced and safety-minded.
Cornelius van der Walt, 37, was piloting the aircraft on Sunday when it fell. He and three other people — Chayton Wiescholek, 28, of Union City, Michigan; Kaitlynn Bartrom, 28, of Andrews, Indiana; and Atahan Kiliccote, 24, of Cupertino, California — died in the crash. One other passenger was seriously injured.
The balloon, a Kubicek BB 85, was operated by Droplyne Hot Air Balloon Rides and was manufactured in 2011. Van der Walt, a resident of Eloy who was originally from South Africa, was the owner of the company.
The balloon had been carrying 13 people at takeoff. Eight of them were skydivers who had left the craft before issues arose.
Eloy hot air balloon crash: What we know about the 4 victims
National Transportation Safety Board officials said in a Monday statement that the balloon went down after an "unspecified problem" with its "envelope," the large bag that fills with hot air to make the balloon rise.
John Vanca, co-owner of Droplyne, said van der Walt had a "perfect safety record from the first day he became a commercial balloon pilot."
He called van der Walt "probably one of the best, if not the best, balloon pilot in the nation."
"He was very meticulous and conservative in his judgment and how he did things," Vanca said. "We always had to check things one, two, three, four, five times. Redundancy is sort of the No. 1 priority when it comes to things like this."
What went wrong?
Investigators were continuing to look into the incident. They expect to release a preliminary report in the coming weeks that could shed more light on the crash.
On Monday, officials said they did not find anything wrong with the mechanics of the balloon when they separated the balloon from the basket.
They are now examining the balloon's envelope for any anomalies. An electronic device with possible relevant flight information and a video camera was sent to NTSB headquarters in Washington, D.C., for further analysis.
NTSB officials said investigators have also collected maintenance records for the balloon and information on the pilot's flight experience. Interviews with witnesses and participants in the flight were continuing, according to the agency.
NTSB spokesperson Sarah Sulick said Thursday that all statements are preliminary pending a final report on the crash. She said she couldn't give an update on the focus of the investigation.
What we know: Autopsies scheduled as investigation into Eloy hot air balloon crash continues
Hot air balloons are generally safe, experts say
Clint Balog, a professor of aviation at Embry Riddle University, said hot air balloons are regulated by the Federal Aviation Administration.
FAA officials declined to respond to inquiries about hot air balloon regulation from The Arizona Republic.
Balog said operators of the balloons are required by federal regulations to keep maintenance logs and periodically inspect their aircraft.
The FAA has limited budget and manpower, Balog said. That means the agency doesn't check every maintenance log entry for every hot air balloon or keep records of all maintenance documents.
Instead, officials can perform surprise inspections and request those documents from operators. Federal regulation requires hot air balloon operators to turn over those documents if the FAA asks for them, Balog said.
Pilots are required to get a license, Balog said. They must be rated to fly a hot air balloon.
"The main thing to keep in mind with hot air balloons is that the FAA treats them no differently than they treat airplanes or helicopters or power-lift aircraft," Balog said.
He said hot air balloons "really are safe" and that incidents are extremely unusual. Eloy Fire Chief Kelly Weddle also called such incidents "very rare."
"They stay in the air by containing a volume of air that is warmer in the envelope than it is outside of the envelope," Balog said. "Something dramatic has to fail with the envelope itself to have an accident like we saw in Arizona. You have to lose containment of that volume of hot air pretty dramatically."
The Valley has previously seen hot air balloon crashes, but most ended with few injuries. Most recently, a hot air balloon with nine people aboard crashed in a north Phoenix neighborhood in December. No one was injured in the crash.
The NTSB holds records of just three previous fatal incidents involving hot air balloons in Arizona since 1990.
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Friends, families and communities remember victims
As the investigation continued, friends and family of the four people killed in the crash were in mourning.
Family of Chayton Wiescholek, the 28-year-old from Michigan, told a local Fox news affiliate that they are "numb." A GoFundMe set up for his funeral expenses had raised more than $13,000 of its $15,000 goal as of Thursday evening.
One of the skydivers who survived the incident was Wiescholek's girlfriend. His mother said he sent her a final message amid the balloon's rapid descent.
“She looked at her phone and had a message from my son," Rhonda Wiescholek said. "It said, 'I love you.' He knew he was going to die."
Jennifer Hubartt, the mother of 28-year-old Kaitlynn Bartrom of Indiana, told a local CBS affiliate that her daughter loved cats, adventure and traveling. Bartrom was a registered nurse and skydiving was one of her passions, Hubartt said.
Vanca said he met van der Walt in a skydiving office in Africa. The two quickly realized they were "of the same cloth," he said, and spent time adventuring together.
"We've done so much stuff together," Vanca said. "We've hitchhiked all across the continent of Africa, slept on highways, walked up to elephants in the wild, jumped out of airplanes in Zimbabwe. ... We've just done so many crazy, unbelievable things."
Vanca called van der Walt his "closest friend."
"I would say the industry lost a legend," Vanca said. "It's very hard to deal with all this stuff right now. This is tough."
Sasha Hupka covers county government and regional issues for The Arizona Republic. Do you have a tip? Reach her at sasha.hupka@arizonarepublic.com. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter: @SashaHupka. Follow her on Instagram or Threads: @sashahupkasnaps.
Reach Republic reporter Perry Vandell at perry.vandell@gannett.com or 602-444-2474. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter: @PerryVandell.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Eloy hot air balloon crash: Families mourn victims
