By Charlotte Shipman
The scorched grass around the crash scene signals New Zealand's worst aviation disaster in 32 years.
Five couples are dead along with their pilot, Lance Hopping, after today’s hot air balloon tragedy in Carterton.
The balloon hit wires on a powerline, after which the basket caught fire and shot up higher into the air.
From his garden David McKinlay watched in horror.
“The flames, the flames...I knew it was out of control, the flames were just licking up the side of the basket. They were right up into the guy ropes and getting close to the bottom of the balloon itself. I just dropped the hose and ran inside - I knew there was a problem."
Two people jumped two hundred metres from the balloon, and nine stayed on board, but Mr McKinlay knew no one would survive.
“It hit the ground at a terrible speed I would imagine. I could just vaguely hear screams,” he says.
Bevan Lambess saw the balloon's basket trapped and on fire underneath the power lines.
“The balloon had pulled the power line up so it was probably three power pylons high and the power line was stuck on top of the basket. It must have burnt through and released the balloon skywards. The whole basket was in a ball of flames,” says Mr Lambess.
Before it fell he says he saw people alive inside the basket.
I could see a couple of people, I didn't realise how many there were, but it was too high to jump - there was no hope.
Six different agencies, including Civil Aviation, are investigating the crash, which happened in near perfect flying conditions.
Throughout the day family and friends have visited the cordoned off crash site and it is understood some had been following the balloon and saw the tragedy unfold.
The victims were five couples from the Greater Wellington area.
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