Chesco's fatal hot-air balloon crash a rarity

The hot-air balloon landed, and Kevin McShea suddenly felt heat.

"Then I heard the pilot screaming, 'Get out! Everybody get out!' " he said.

The balloon's cramped quarters made that difficult. McShea said he swung his torso over the side and landed head-first. After the flames erupted, he said, he saw pilot Earl Wendell MacPherson Jr. "on fire and still at the controls."

MacPherson, 67, of Pennsville, N.J., a pilot who often participated in balloon safety exercises, was killed in Sunday's crash in West Vincent Township, Chester County. McShea and the other six passengers on board were injured as they struggled to get out of the burning basket after an apparent emergency landing.

Yesterday, a circle of burnt grass marked the spot where the basket came down at 6:37 p.m. Sunday. The brightly colored balloon still lay about 60 feet away.

NTSB investigator Shawn D. Etcher said at the scene that the probable cause of the accident likely will not be determined for six to 12 months. A preliminary report could be issued within 10 days to two weeks.

Township police said the balloon was owned by Air Ventures Balloon Rides Inc., a Paoli company that charges passengers for rides. The owner, Debbie Harding, became in 1998 the first female balloonist to fly over the North Pole.

The balloon took off from near the intersection of Routes 100 and 401. Police got word of the incident when a motorist on Kimberton Road saw the balloon hit the ground and called 911. Witnesses told police of a horrific scene as the basket erupted in flames and the passengers struggled to escape.

According to police, the passengers in addition to McShea, 33, of Philadelphia, were Liam P. McGuckin, 19, of Roslyn; Scottie M. Owens, 18, of North Wales; Nancy Zoeltsch, 60, and Bethany L. Zoeltsch, 28, both of Philadelphia; Kristen M. McShea, 33, of Philadelphia; and John Conboy III, 61, of Spring City.

Balloon accidents involving injury or death are relatively rare. The incident in Chester County was only the 14th recorded balloon accident in Pennsylvania in the last 46 years.

None of the previous accidents included a fatality. Nationwide, there have been just 64 fatal accidents since 1962, according to records of the National Transportation Safety Board that go back that far.

Last year, Canadian news media reported in August that two people had been killed and 11 injured when a hot-air balloon exploded in flames and crashed into a trailer park near Vancouver.

Balloon fires, however, are "very unusual," said Nick Moehlmann, a leader of the John Wise Balloon Society, which has more than 100 members in five states and is named for an 19th-century balloonist.

"There are no free mistakes with propane, so we are all pretty darn careful," said Moehlmann, a retired state legislator from Lebanon County. "But the accident that kills isn't a fire; it is contact with power lines."

Darcy MacPherson, wife of the pilot, said in an interview that her husband's ground crew had told her he had noticed that "one of the lead fuel lines wasn't right" while the balloon was in the air. She was told the fire apparently erupted after he descended to adjust the line.

After almost 45 years of marriage, Darcy MacPherson said, she had loved her husband more every day.

"This morning, I said, 'You're up there in heaven with the angels flying all over; I bet you're happy about that,' " she said.

Earl MacPherson was certified by the Federal Aviation Administration to fly both small planes and balloons, and was an FAA-certified ground instructor.

Moehlmann, who did not witness the accident, guessed that MacPherson was killed while struggling to keep the balloon - suddenly lightened as others escaped - from rising back into the air and becoming a "floating torch" that could have landed again anywhere.

"I expect the reason Earl is the only one who did not get out is because he was the one whose job was to stop that balloon," Moehlmann said.

MacPherson was a member of the John Wise group and helped Moehlmann organize an annual safety seminar at Millersville University.

Kevin McShea said most of the passengers were his relatives; his mother-in-law had just turned 60 and always wanted to ride in a hot-air balloon.

"I don't think we'd be here today if it weren't for the pilot," Kevin McShea said. "Our hearts and prayers go out to his family."

The passengers were treated at several hospitals, mostly for burns.

"The burns ranged from minor to severe, but it doesn't appear that any are life-threatening," Police Chief Michael Swininger said.

The last previous recorded balloon accident in Pennsylvania came on May 5, 2007, in New Holland, Lancaster County. NTSB records show that a balloon flown by the U.S. Hot Air Balloon Team hit a tree as it descended from 3,000 feet. Four people were injured, two seriously.

The last accident before that had been on Dec. 3, 2004, in Dover, Del. One person suffered a back injury when a balloon basket tipped over on landing. The NTSB blamed wind and "an excessive descent rate."

The FAA said it had no records on Air Ventures Balloon Rides in its files. Harding did not respond to telephone and e-mail messages requesting comment.

The FAA requires that balloons be inspected for safety once a year - or after every 100 hours of operation - at an FAA-approved facility. The balloon in Sunday's incident had not been in a reported accident before.

A handbook for balloon pilots prepared by the U.S. Department of Transportation says that hot-air balloons have been in use since 1783 - 120 years before the first powered airplane flight.

Most burn propane. They might carry a fire extinguisher, but it is "usually too small to extinguish . . . serious fires caused by a propane leak," according to the handbook.

An NTSB investigator did not mention yesterday if the balloon that caught fire Sunday was equipped with an extinguisher.