The pilot of a hot air balloon that crashed in Arizona in January, killing him and three passengers, had ketamine in his body, according to an autopsy report.
On Jan. 14, the balloon rose above Eloy, Arizona. The basket had 12 passengers along with the pilot, and eight of them skydived to safety before the craft crashed.
Pilot Cornelius Van Der Walt, founder of Droplyne Hot Air Balloon Rides, had elevated levels of the drug in his system when the balloon dropped 2,000 feet to the desert floor, the Pinal County Medical Examiner’s Office reported Monday.
The skydivers safely on the ground saw the balloon descend with the top part partially deflated, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.
That top part, or envelope, had heat-related damage, the NTSB said.
Ketamine is an anesthetic that can cause dissociation and hallucinations. Van Der Walt didn’t have a prescription for the drug, the Pinal County autopsy said.
In addition to Van Der Walt, 37, three of the four passengers who didn’t skydive also died: Kaitlynn Bartrom, 28, Chayton Wiescholek, 28, and Atahan Kiliccote, 24.
The fourth passenger, Valerie Stutterheim, 23, survived but suffered a traumatic brain injury, according to The Arizona Republic.
On its website, the Droplyne company wrote, “Our hearts and prayers go out to the families of those who lost loved ones in that accident, and we hope and pray for a full recovery for the surviving member of that group,” adding that it ceased all services.
The NTSB continues to work on a full report.