Balloon crash: Court to hear pilot’s appeal today

Abu Dhabi: The Al Ain Appeals Court will on Tuesday hold the first hearing of an appeal filed by balloon captain Piotr Gorny of Balloon Adventures Emirates (BAE) against a one-year jail sentence for the Suwaihan crash in April this year, which killed a French and an Indian on board, Abu Dhabi Judicial Department said on Sunday.
The company’s office in Dubai is closed “for the summer”, explained the company’s only employee left behind, answering the company founder’s private cellphone number. “We don’t have flights in the summer, so everybody is on holiday. Everybody will be back in August,” said the BAE representative.
The company was set up in Dubai seven years ago and only in 2009 started flying over the desert between Suwaihan and Al Ain.
The crash had also caused moderate to critical injuries to 11 persons. The mishap occurred when the hot air balloon in which they were on a tourist trip crashed as it was trying to make an emergency landing at Nahel Suwaihan in Al Ain following intense winds.
06/07/10 M.A. Qudoos,T Ramavarman & Silvia Radan/Khaleej Times

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Categories: Foreign Jul 2010, Safety Jul 2010