MP opens investigation into the death of a man in Alqueva. Company denies aircraft accident | Accidents

The company that owns the hot air balloon in which the man who ended up dying on the banks of the Alqueva reservoir, in the municipality of Mourão (Évora), was traveling, considered this Monday that the case was “not an aeronautical accident”. “Legally, it was not a balloon accident”, argued Lusa Guido Santos, director of operations and one of the pilots of the company Passageiros do Vento, owner of the balloon and the Windpassenger brand.

One of the passengers of a hot air balloon that was on a tourist tour in the Alqueva area was found dead, on Sunday morning, on the banks of the reservoir, after leaving the aerial vehicle. The case has already resulted in the opening of an investigation by the Public Ministry, said the TSF.

Contacted by Lusa, the company’s operations director argued that a person “ceases to be a passenger when they voluntarily leave the balloon”, arguing that this is what happened in this case. “This does not mean that the company cannot have civil liability, but, at an aeronautical level, there was no accident”, he highlighted.

According to Guido Santos, the company has four different insurance plans for hot air balloon tours. “If there are responsibilities, these insurances will be activated, but, in any case, we will report it to the insurance company, out of pure caution”, he highlighted.

The person in charge declined to make any further statements about what happened, referring any further clarifications from the company until after the autopsy results were known. “We cannot reach conclusions before we know the results of the autopsy. We have to understand what the cause of death was,” he highlighted.

The operations director of Passageiros do Vento added that the company regrets what happened and offers condolences to the family. The circumstances surrounding the death of the 55-year-old man are being investigated by the Judiciary Police.

On Sunday, speaking to Lusa, the girlfriend of the man who ended up dying, Alexandra Santos, who accompanied him on the tourist tour, said that this passenger had left the hot air balloon basket into the water after ditching. “The balloon started to tilt towards the water, because of the winds, and, at the speed we were going, the pilot didn’t have a chance either and we hit the water, but very close to the shore. We all got wet feet”, she reported.

However, continued Alexandra Santos, the aerial vehicle “continued to move” towards the interior of the reservoir, and the pilot then suggested that some passengers “go outside to pull the basket to land”.

The man, who would end up dying, then entered the water, “the balloon rose” and “hit the water again”, for the second time, now “further away from the shore”, this witness highlighted. “No one saw it standing up, but it was close to the shore when we last saw it,” she said, indicating that the hot air balloon then landed in an olive grove.

This tourist trip had started in the Monsaraz area, in the neighboring municipality of Reguengos de Monsaraz, also in the district of Évora.