PAHRUMP, Nev. — A family visiting Las Vegas is recovering after their hot air balloon made a hard landing Thursday morning in the Stewart Valley dry lake bed, west of Pahrump.
Authorities say several people were hurt with burns and other blunt force injuries.
MORE ON FOX5: Multiple people hospitalized after fiery hot air balloon crash in Pahrump
Brant Kairit said he and his family were visiting from Mississippi when they were looking for activities to do.
“One of them that seemed to be really fun was just be a hot air balloon ride. Nobody in our family had ever ridden before,” Kairit said.
Kairit said the company picked them up Thursday morning and drove to Pahrump for their first balloon ride.
“Everything was just wonderful. It was like early. We drove to Pahrump in the dark. They set it up. We flew for 45 minutes it was beautiful. ” Kairit said.
Landing goes wrong
Kairit said the experience turned scary in the final moments.
“It was a wonderful experience until the last 30 seconds. In the last 30 seconds we were to land and hit the ground,” he said.
The Nye County Sheriff’s Office says the balloon made a hard landing.
“The baskets are shaped like a figure 8 rectangular, so we landed and went up in the air for a little bit, 20, 30 feet, and it tipped over on its side with the smaller rectangular part on the ground,” Kairit said.
He said the basket was four feet on the ground and 12 feet in the air on the other side. His family was on the side that was up in the air.
“When I was 10 foot in the air and it was about to roll over on my head, that’s when I was like, yeah, this ain’t going to be good,” Kairit said.
Kairit said the basket tipped and there was a fire.
“We managed to get out under it, start stomping out the fire. My wife has the most injuries, bleeding pretty well. We had to get her in the van,” he said.
No cell service in remote area
With no cell service in the remote area, the family and other passengers drove themselves to the hospital.
Around 6:30 a.m., the Nye County Sheriff’s Office received a text message to 911 saying there had been a hot air balloon crash. The text came in because the caller said they had no cell reception.
“We were trying to call 911 and Google see where the nearest hospital was and we didn’t have service,” Kairit said.
The family got Kairit’s wife to Desert View Hospital. She has multiple broken bones and was flown to UMC and will have surgery Saturday.
There were 10 people on board with two other tourist groups. The Nye County Sheriff’s Office says several had second and third degree burns.
Pahrump Valley Fire and Rescue crews were dispatched to the area but only found the balloon company’s crew members at the scene.
The FAA says it is investigating the crash. Additional details about the investigation are expected to be released within the next business day.
Vegas Balloon Rides did not respond to a request for comment.
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