Air Accidents Investigation Branch to probe man’s hot air balloon death

West Mercia Police said a man in his 20s was pronounced dead by paramedics.
(PA)
PA Archive
Flora Bowen25 June 2023

The death of a man in a hot air balloon accident is being probed by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB).

Emergency services attended Holt Fleet Road in Ombersley, Worcestershire, after receiving a call that a hot air balloon had fallen to the ground near the village, according to the BBC.

West Mercia Police said a man in his 20s was pronounced dead by paramedics.

An AAIB spokesperson said: “We have a team on site and are beginning our investigation.”

The British Balloon and Airship Club (BBAC) said it was aware of the incident.

“The AAIB have been informed and supported by the BBAC, will be investigating the circumstances,” a statement said.

“Our thoughts are with the family and friends of those involved at this time.”

This weekend marked the first Worcestershire Balloon Festival, which took place on June 23 and 24 at Worcester Racecourse, around 6.8 miles from the site of the accident.

Organisers told the Worcester News that the accident was “independent” and not related to the festival.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in