Egypt balloon crash: survivor's life flashed before his eyes
Michael Rennie, 49, from Perth, Scotland, survived the tragedy and is recovering in a Cairo hospital. His wife Yvonne, 48, was among the victims, along with Joe Bampton, from south London, and his Hungarian girlfriend Suzanna Gyetvai.
Speaking to the Daily Mirror, doctors at Cairo's Nasser Institute hospital claim the father of two, who jumped 20ft from the balloon when a pipe from gas tanks set it alight, told doctors "My life flashed in front of my eyes."
Dr Sameh Elashmawy, director of the hospital, added that it was a "miracle" Mr Rennie survived, saying he "doesn't have a scratch on him", but he is "upset from losing his wife."
William Harris, the father of Mrs Rennie, meanwhile told The Sun that Mr Rennie apologised to him over the phone and "broke down" while speaking to him.
"But we know it wasn't Michael that dragged her on to that balloon," he said. "It was Yvonne that dragged Michael. Nightmare doesn't describe it."
Mr Harris said the couple were like "lovebirds in the flush of young marriage", as he paid tribute to his "restrained daredevil" daughter.
The pilot, Moaman Abdo, 27, was the only other survivor of the crash, but has 70 per cent burns. He reportedly told his mother Sabah from his hospital bed: "I can't believe it, I saw people dying, please tell me no one died."
The Egyptian company behind the balloon tours has defended its safety record despite revelations of previous accidents dating back to the 1990s, and one as recently as 2011.
Sky Cruise, which operates four balloons in Luxor, was inspected by Egypt's civil aviation authority on Feb 15, its manager, Khaled Hatata, said.
The company suffered its first recorded incident in 1996, when it was known as Balloons Over Egypt. On that occasion a balloon was blown off course and landed in the desert. The vehicles sent to pick up the eight passengers became bogged down in the sand before they reached them.
It had suffered more accidents since, though no deaths. Two years ago, a Sky Cruise balloon, identical to the one that crashed on Tuesday, was filmed ditching in the Nile, hitting a boat.
"This is the first time an incident of this scale has occurred in Egypt," Mr Hatata said. "I do not know the cause of the accident but if I had known of any defect I would not allow it to fly."
He said there had been a fire extinguisher on board and showed the flight inspection docket, the balloon's safety certificate valid till October this year, and the company licence, which expires on March 26 and was in the process of being renewed.
The accident on Tuesday is the worst recorded tourist balloon disaster. Witnesses said the flight was coming into land after a dawn tour over the Nile and the Valley of the Kings near Luxor when it got into difficulties.
"The ground crew said they were pulling the tether rope down and were surprised to see smoke coming out of the balloon," Mr Hatata said. "The pilot was on fire and jumped out of the balloon, which then started to rise again."
One theory is that the tow rope dislodged a gas pipe.
The Luxor prosecutor said a scientific report would be issued in 15 days' time and would form the basis for a decision on whether to prosecute.
telegraph
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