Sunshine Boulevard – The four people who tragically perished in a hot air balloon disaster on January 14 at Sunshine Boulevard and Hanna Road have been identified by the Eloy Police Department. Around seven fifty in the morning, a hot air balloon carrying eight people—skydivers and passengers—went down in an incident. According to the first information available, eight skydivers were lucky to have escaped the balloon safely before the tragic accident occurred, which allowed them to successfully complete their jumps.
The sad crash victims have been identified as Atahan Kiliccote, 24, of Cupertino, California; Kaitlynn Bartrom, 28, of Andrews, Indiana; Cornelius Van Der Walt, 37, of Eloy, Michigan, originally from South Africa; and Chayton Wiescholek, 28, of Union City, Michigan. Interestingly, the pilot of the doomed hot air balloon was identified as Cornelius Van Der Walt, a South African. The fact that Scottsdale resident Valerie Stutterheim, 23, was listed in critical condition only served to emphasise how serious the tragedy was. T
he Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) are actively collaborating with the Eloy Police Department on the current investigation, the department stressed. The town is close-knit and has been left with a sombre shadow by this sad occurrence. The outpouring of sorrow has been accompanied by a collective yearning to know what caused the crash. The community is hoping for clarification on the causes that led to this heartbreaking event involving a hot air balloon ride that took a disastrous turn as the inquiry progresses and awaits insights from authorities.