Pilot who flew hot air balloon into a tree, killing four and injuring two Brits, lost his flying licence in June
The pilot of a hot air balloon that crashed during a pleasure ride and killed four people did not have a licence, air safety officials have revealed.
Six people are still in a critical condition and 28 were injured after the balloon hit a tree and burst into flames near the Slovenian capital, Ljubljana.
The pilot's licence was confiscated on June 7 because he needed to retake some health exams, according to Ziga Kotnik, head of the civil aviation authority.
Horror crash: The balloon hit a tree and burst into flames, killing four and leaving six in a critical condition
Tragedy: The pilot's licence was confiscated on June 7 because he needed to retake some health exams, according to the head of the civil aviation authority
He told local media: 'The pilot did not have a proper licence.'
Hot air balloon expert Darko Kralj told local television that a thunderstorm which broke just before the doomed flight took off was so severe it would have been 'better to have a coffee and not to fly.'
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Meanwhile speculation was growing that one of the four dead was British after the UK Foreign Office said that two British citizens were involved.
None of the casualties have been officially identified following the horror crash during the tourist excursion.
They were too badly burned to be identified, and many of the survivors were also so severely injured that it had not been possible to talk to them properly.
Pleasure trip: The group of 32 had been flying near the outskirts of Ljubljana, Slovenia, to see the sunrise
Novo Mesto Clinic's medical director Mira Retelj, however, said that those hospitalised included only one British woman - indicating that if there was a second passenger then they must have been one of those killed.
A British woman who was being treated for head injuries left the hospital early Friday without speaking to the media.
The Britons were believed to have been on holiday in the central European country.
A Foreign Office spokesman in London said: ‘We are aware of the hospitalisation of two British nationals.’
The official STA news agency said two hot air balloons were in the air at the time of the crash.
Dangerous: Hot air balloon expert Darko Kralj told local television that a thunderstorm, which broke just before the doomed flight took off, was so severe it would have been 'better to have a coffee and not to fly'
They set off at 5.30 in the morning to catch the sunrise.
Just after 8am, witnesses said they saw one of the balloons, carrying 32 people reportedly including six children, crash into a tree as it attempted to land during a storm.
Several witnesses who were working in a field nearby said they saw victims leaping from the basket to escape the flames.
One said: ‘The balloon was caught in a sudden storm, there was lightning but I don’t know if that hit the balloon, but I saw the balloon hit the tree and then I saw people starting to fall out.
‘The balloon basket hit the ground fast, some of the people inside fell out but then the basket went back up into the air with others still inside – and this time it was on fire.’
Emergency services arrive at the scene of the crash which saw four people killed and a British woman among the 28 injured
Janez Cimperman, mayor of the small rural community of Ig, where the accident happened, said: ‘People were either falling from the basket of the balloon or jumping from it. It was horrible to watch.’
More than 70 rescuers from the capital Ljubljana, seven miles away, were on the scene within minutes and spoke of the carnage that greeted them.
A medic who was among the first at the scene told local media he had seen four charred bodies lying on the ground.
At least ten others needed to be resuscitated at the scene.
Natural beauty: Lake Bled is famous for its stunning views and hot air balloon rides over the water are popular with tourists
Tomaz Kucic, head of the firefighting team, said they extinguished the fire.
The British woman was said to be among survivors then taken to the Ljubljana Clinical Centre. It is believed she was later moved with four others to a nearby hospital at Novo Mesto.
Locals where the accident happened said the balloons should never have set off as the weather was bad.
But other reports said there had been a sudden storm, which caught the operators unaware.
It was reported that the second balloon landed safely.
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