Four victims in hot air balloon crash have been identified

ELOY, Ariz. (CNN, KYMA/KECY) - The four people who died in a hot air balloon crash over the weekend have been identified, according to the Eloy Police Department (EPD).

EPD has identified the following four victims:

• 37-year-old Cornelius van der Walt, an Eloy resident who was also the balloon's pilot
• 24-year-old Atahan Kiliccote of California
• 28-year-old Kaitlynn Bartrom of Indiana
• 28-year-old Chayton Wiescholek of Michigan

All four died after the balloon crashed shortly after eight skydivers made their jump early Sunday morning in Central Arizona.

Grieving a significant loss

"It's sad and heartbreaking that there was a loss of life," said Micah Powell, Mayor of Eloy.

Eloy is grieving a significant loss to the skydiving and ballooning community after a hot air balloon came crashing down around 7:50am Sunday.

"We have the world's largest drop zone. And so, when this occurs into our community, it affects us because the sky diving community is a large one and very, very close knit," said Chief Byron Gwaltney with EPD.

Four people are dead, including three passengers and the balloon pilot, while one passenger is being treated for critical injuries at a Valley hospital.

A family identified one of the vicitms as Bartrom and said she had just become a nurse and loved adventure.

"These types of accidents are rare," Powell spoke.

Flight plan

Police said the balloon came from outside the City of Eloy and were unaware of the intended flight plan, but knew it went up with 13 people on board. Eight of those people skydived toward the Eloy Municipal Airport.

Shortly after their jump, eyewitnesses described seeing a catastrophic situation.

"They saw the last 10 seconds before the impact and they said that the material of the balloon portion was just straight up," Gwaltney shared.

Hot air balloon pilot and safety expert Eliav Cohen tells me there's two reasons a hot air balloon might go straight up.

"It's most likely it's because of the skydiving operation and that caused that parachute to some reason float and then closes them out. So, when they say it's up and down, at that point, you couldn't get any more air in."

Eliav Cohen, Hot Air Balloon Expert

Incredibly reckless and risky

Cohen says it's also possible the basket was too light after the eight skydivers jumped.

"If, at that point, there were a wind shear, you know, big gust of wind because it was lightly loaded. It could cause that as well. Now, normally loaded, you could not have that issue."

Eliav Cohen, Hot Air Balloon Expert

Cohen said skydiving from a hot air balloon is incredibly reckless and risky for anyone on board.

"It's extremely, extremely rare to flow to top because it means you have to be going up at least 1300 feet, 1500 feet a minute and the balloon is not supposed to, by the manufacturer, go over 1000 feet per minute," Cohen explained.