A pilot was arrested after leaping from a burning hot air balloon basket, killing a husband and wife in Mexico.
Victor Guzmán was apprehended after leaping 16 feet from a burning balloon and fleeing the scene.
He was detained after being released from the hospital with burns covering half of his body.
On Saturday, April 1, José Nolasco, 50, and his wife, Viridiana Becerril, 39, were killed when their hot air balloon crashed over a pre-Hispanic pyramid site in Teotihuacán, State of Mexico.
Regina Itzani, their 13-year-old daughter, survived after jumping from the crashing plane before it hit the ground, but she remains hospitalized with a broken arm and second-degree burns.
Guzmán told agents from the Attorney General’s Office of the State of Mexico that he had abandoned the balloon-rented by the family for a surprise birthday trip because he didn’t know how to respond to the emergency.
The terrifying video footage shows occupants falling or jumping from the craft.
According to witnesses, Guzmán jumped off the balloon while it was in flames about 16 feet above the ground, leaving the family behind.
He collided with the ground and fled.
The hot air balloon ride had been planned as a surprise for Becerril, according to her mother, Reyna Sarmiento.
It took off around 8 a.m. and encountered a problem with its gas system, causing the cabin to catch fire.
Itzani told her grandmother that as the balloon caught fire, her parents hugged her. She is said to have jumped out of the balloon as it was engulfed in flames.
“The girl tells us that the gas tank there, the hydrostatic gas tank, started to light up and that’s what started to burn,” Reyna Sarmiento said. She claims her parents hugged her, but she turned away and jumped.”
The Federal Aviation Administration is in charge of the investigation, which is looking into whether the company, Autocinema Retroviso, is licensed to operate the hot air balloon service and whether it has adequate insurance to cover accidents.
