OT - Air balloon disaster

[Earl Grey]

I see that the pilot of the air balloon that killed 19 in Egypt leapt to freedom leaving everyone else bar one to perish.
Does he qualify for the Costa Concordia award for devotion to his craft?

[Pompski!]

I see that the pilot of the air balloon that killed 19 in Egypt leapt to freedom leaving everyone else bar one to perish.
Does he qualify for the Costa Concordia award for devotion to his craft?

I heard it was the other way around, he stayed in and the rest jumped to their deaths?

[HappyHour@TheBreweryOfLife]

There's so many conflicting versions for this.

I heard that the balloon was almost down and its cables were being held by staff on the ground. One cable snagged on a tank, the balloon shot upwards for some reason and the pilot plus one other jumped as it rose. Then it all becomes too unpleasant to contemplate.

[pompeypanther]

Pilot apparently has 70% burns.

[HappyHour@TheBreweryOfLife]

Pilot apparently has 70% burns.

For some reason, my second paragraph disappeared:

I have also heard that the pilot stayed in the balloon, but jumped 15-20m from the ground as it came back down.

[blue architect]

I did this exact balloon ride over the Valley of the Kings two years ago.It was to celebrate my daughters 18th Birthday. It all was a bit haphazard, but everything in Egypt appears that way so no alarm bells seem to ring. The captain of the balloon seemed competent and wore a captains cap similar to 1950's commercial pilots. We were all asked to sign the accident waiver form, but again that is the same over here, so again no alarm bells. I never thought of the possibility of an accident having been ballooning in this country and the States several times without even a slight problem, other than heavy landings. We were never informed that there had been fatalities previously, however looking back my complacency of allowing all the haphazard scenes around me just being put down to it being Egypt seem a bit rash.
I have got to say it was one of the best experiences of my life, but I am not sure if I would have done it had I been more aware.

[Pompski!]

Statistically it's probably a lot safer than it seems.

On paper though, being 1000ft in the air, supported by nothing but slightly warmer air and some fabric with no control apart up and down, a limited fuel supply and no ability to dodge any air traffic. Hmmmm. It's one of those things that if invented today, it would seem a crazy idea but like smoking, a bit of history somehow makes it acceptable.