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As we related earlier, the balloon involved in the Colorado boy's flight is actually a helium balloon. The incident in China actually does involve a real hot air balloon.
The entire 18-member tourist group came to China on Sept. 25th. On Wednesday, seven members of the tourist group went on a balloon flight, but the two pilots reportedly lost control of the aircraft.
The rescue group of 400 people went searching for the hot air balloon, which was eventually found. Later reports noted that the balloon itself caught fire, perhaps because of a malfunction of the burners themselves.
Unfortunately, four of the tourists were killed. One of the pilots was injured as well. The flight was in Yangshuo, a famous scenic spot in Guilin city, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in southern China.
After the crash, all hot-air balloon businesses in the area suspended service as officials conducted a safety investigation. The rest of the tourist group is scheduled to leave China on Oct. 16th, according to their original agenda, but they planned to leave early, on Thursday, instead.
Posted October 15th, 2009 by Michael Santo
