Podlasie. “Hard Landing” of the Balloon, the decision of the prosecutor's office

Atmospheric conditions, not a pilot or a flight organization were at fault – the prosecutor's office assessed and discontinued the investigation regarding the so -called hard landing near Białystok balloon for heated air. A total of 16 people flew it, as a result of such a landing two were injured and went to the hospital.

The accident occurred on August 31 last year in the village of Rogówek. The balloon for heated air landed in the field. It turned out that the pilot had to perform the so -called hard landing; The first arrangements talked about suddenly changing weather conditions and strong gusts of wind.

After a strong hit of the basket on the ground, the balloon was still pulled in the field for some time; Two people were injured who fell out of the basket after hitting his ground. The balloon touched several times – he landed and rose.

The circumstances of this event were explained by the District Prosecutor's Office in Bialystok for half a year. Her investigation concerned bringing a disaster in air traffic, life -threatening or health of many people. Among the evidence gathered were, among others Testimonies of flight participants, data from the balloon recorder, information on the weather situation at that time, report of the State Air Accident Investigation Commission and an expert opinion in the field of air accidents.

Present: “The conditions have changed suddenly.” Passengers fell out of the balloon in Podlasie. Two people injured

– The investigation was discontinued due to the statement that the act does not contain the features of a criminal act (…). The pilot had no influence on the resulting situation, caused by strong gusts of wind, “the head of this prosecutor's office Elwira Laskowska said on Thursday. As explained, the expert said that the direct cause of the accident was” a hard selection during a balloon landing, which was affected by weather conditions, through intense The wind speed, whose turmoil was caused by obstacles in the form of trees on the landing approach line. “

Prok. Laskowska added that – in the expert's assessment – the pilot's behavior before the start, during the flight, as well as the landing phase was correct, he reacted correctly to changing weather conditions and – if possible – attempted to try safely. “When these conditions have changed, the pilot instructed the flight participants how they should behave,” she said.

The decision of the prosecutor's office to discontinue this investigation is not yet final.