One Dead, Two Injured After Hot Air Balloon Catches Fire in Mexico

[WonderMomma]

Happened on 11 May 2025
Source: https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/horr...mexico-8412222

Horror As Man Falls to His Death After Getting Entangled In Burning Hot Air Balloon In Mexico
Shocking footage has captured the harrowing moment a man plunged to his death after clinging to the bottom of a burning hot air balloon.
Edited by: Ritu Singh May 14, 2025 16:42 pm IST

The festival was part of the Enrique Estrada 2025 Fair organisation.

A man fell to his death after a hot air balloon caught fire in Zacatecas.
Luicio N. saved two passengers before becoming entangled in balloon ropes.
Authorities confirmed the incident and recovered Luicio's body at the scene.
A tragic incident occurred during a First Balloon Festival in Zacatecas, Mexico, where a 40-year-old man, identified as Luicio N, fell to his death from a hot air balloon that caught fire. The incident was captured on camera, showing Luicio dangling from a rope entangled in the balloon's lines as the basket above him was engulfed in flames.

According to Riviera Maya News, the incident happened when a hot air balloon caught fire on the ground with Luicio and two other passengers inside. Luicio bravely pulled the passengers from the basket to safety, but as the balloon ascended, he became entangled in its ropes and was lifted into the air. Tragically, he fell to his death. Police recovered his body, and paramedics treated the two passengers for first-degree burns at a nearby hospital.

Rodrigo Reyes Muguerza, the Secretary General of Zacatecas, confirmed the news and urged local municipalities to tighten safety checks and enforcement mechanisms during festivals to prevent future tragedies.

"Immediately, authorities rushed to the scene to provide care and support to the affected people. We have requested the State Prosecutor's Office to carry out the relevant investigations to clarify the facts and disclose responsibilities. We urge all municipal authorities to strengthen their verification mechanisms to avoid such risks during the development of their activities and festivities," Mr Muguerza said in a statement.

Luicio's heroic act has sparked an outpouring of emotions on social media, with many users expressing admiration for his bravery. One user wrote, "This man is a hero. That being said. I don't go in hot air balloons for a reason."

Other articles:
https://people.com/man-falls-death-h...ports-11734407
https://www.the-sun.com/news/1423681...ce=chatgpt.com
https://nypost.com/video/harrowing-v...ce=chatgpt.com
https://www.aerotime.aero/articles/m...ls-1-injures-2

EDIT:
Last video added with following info:
"After the tragic accident that occurred in Enrique Estrada, Zacatecas, the State Attorney General's Office secured the remaining hot air balloons, after the owners of the responsible company abandoned them."

[Mr.NoCredit]

Damn.

I was just getting into the Star Wars type music in the 4th video waiting for ballonman to fall and it just stopped, mid everything.

[fapfapfap]

Does anybody enough about these things explain why the balloon happened to deflate right after he fell off of it? Just a shitty coincidence?

I'd hate to think that he had a chance to survive if he had stayed tangled for just a little longer.

[fapfapfap]

Edit: It looks like it was starting to deflate right before he fell. I wonder if it descending quickly caused him to untangle just enough.

[William May]

Balloons have a dump panel, and, if you pull it, it opens the envelope and dumps all the hot air. You NORMALLY only pull it once you have decided to land, and have touched down. At that point, if you DIDN'T have the dump panel, as soon as one person climbed out of the basket, the balloon would rise again, and you could land again and again and again, until you ran out of passengers. The goal is to touch down ONCE, pull the panel cable, and dump the hot air, and stay on the ground, and open the champagne. I have no clue how that guy could have gotten so tangled up in the lines that he couldn't get loose.

The balloon may have burned through the dump panel line, and started to deflate, or it could be deflating because the fire has burned enough of the envelope to start releasing hot air and bringing the balloon down just by the nature of losing lift. Remember that the balloon was inflated for a full load, and left with just the one guy, so it had plenty of extra lift when it took off, even with the fire burning. I have no idea if the involuntary passenger actually pulled the panel line to open the balloon up. But you don't really want to pull that until you are on the ground, because it means you are descending RIGHT NOW. Plus he was below the gondola, so he may not have even had access to the panel cable. It is normally tied off and the pilot is the only one who knows which cable it is, and how to pull it.

Bad events at their first balloon festival. I wonder if they will have another one.

[William May]

And lots of corns to WonderMomma, for digging all this up for us!

[BagOfSuck]

Theses people are awesome at filming everything but the balloon

[kellyhound]

They call it a hot air balloon for a reason ;

[Vinnystruckn]

Gotta keep my loved ones away from hot air balloons

[rhubarb_king]

I guess air-fryers are the in thing at the moment