TEMECULA: Cause of fiery balloon accident still unclear

A preliminary report released this week on a Nov. 9 hot air balloon accident near Temecula describes “a flash and fireball” when propane ignited but doesn’t speculate about the cause.

The report, from the National Transportation Safety Board, identifies the company involved in the fiery accident as D&D Ballooning and says five people were injured, some with serious burns.

Howard Plagens, an NTSB investigator, said the investigation could take few a months.

The accident was reported about 7:45 a.m. near Vino Way and Calle Cabernet in the Temecula Valley Wine County. According to the report, the Firefly 10 had taken off about 7 a.m. for a sightseeing flight. After landing in a field, some passengers got out of the basket but others were still onboard as the pilot moved the balloon toward its trailer.

According to one passenger, who reported smelling propane throughout the flight, the pilot had shut off one of the two burners, the report states. That passenger reported smelling an especially strong odor of propane when “a flash and fireball erupted,” the report says.

The balloon itself was not damaged by the flash fire, according to the report.

Reached by phone Tuesday, Dominic Chemello, the pilot and owner of D&D Ballooning, questioned the report that there was a smell of propane during the flight. He said he didn’t notice an odor and none of the passengers mentioned it.

Chemello, an experienced pilot who worked for many years as an aviation safety inspector for the Federal Aviation Administration, said they had an uneventful flight and a nice landing that day. He left some passengers in the gondola with him to serve as a counterweight while they walked the balloon to its trailer, Chemello said.

He said he was in the process of deflating and packing up the balloon when the flash occurred. Chemello said he doesn’t know what ignited the propane.

There have been conflicting reports about injuries from the incident.

A Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire Department news release from the day of the accident reported that four of five people in the basket had been hurt – three with major injuries and one with moderate injuries. They said four people were taken by ambulance to hospitals.

Lt. Matt Aveling, of the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, said their records show five people were taken to area hospitals, including one to the burn unit at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton. But he had no details about the severity of the injuries.

The names of the injured passengers have not been disclosed and no update on their conditions was included in the NTSB report.

Chemello said his injuries were the most serious. He said he was taken to a burn unit for treatment of second-degree burns over 19 percent of his body. He said he has been out of the hospital for days and is expected to make a full recovery.

Speaking earlier this month, Denni Barrett, of Magical Adventure Balloon Rides, another company that offers tours in Temecula, downplayed the incident and stressed that hot air balloon accidents are rare.

“Ballooning is an extremely safe activity,” he said.

Hot air balloons are a major tourist draw for the Temecula area and are the showpiece of the annual Temecula Valley Balloon & Wine Festival at Lake Skinner.

Because hot air balloons are at the mercy of shifting winds, they occasionally land in less-than-ideal locations such as backyards and vineyards.

But online FAA reports list just four balloon accidents in the Temecula area from 1983 through 2012, one of which was fatal.

Two people were killed during the 1986 Balloon & Wine Festival in Temecula when their balloon hit utility lines.

In 1997, a balloon landed on a rock, tipped over and ignited a grass fire that consumed the balloon. No one was hurt.

And in June 2012, a balloon struck electrical wires while trying to land. The balloon remained entangled in the wires for a few seconds and then descended to the ground, according to an FAA report. Though the balloon’s fabric panels were damaged and several of its cables severed, the passengers escaped without serious injury.

via – PE.com.