To think that if you are a pilot/driver/captain you stay until the bitter end when shit hits the fan?

[ProbationProbationProbation]

... It be held accountable?

I didn't realise the pilot (if that's the term) of that horrific Egyptian Balloon accident jumped out as soon as it caught fire.
Surely then it just drifted off into space burning because nobody on board would have known how to control it, or what to do in an emergency.

I know the fire was accidental, but surely we rely on the professionals in this instance to at least do some basic damage control?

Surely his actions resulted in more deaths than necessary?

Well yes... In theory. Costa Concordia is another example :(

OR, be held accountable!

Sometimes it's disastrous like this that either bring out the best or worse in human nature

It's human nature to escape from fire - you'd have to be pretty scared to jump from that height.

Although I note you don't single out the male survivor for jumping and leaving his wife?

I'm not sure staying in would have changed anything, by the looks of it the balloon didnt drift up but shot up. I thought that he whole thing happened very quickly, he may not have had time to think but reacted.

Holly pilots are so highly trained that the instinct should be for the passengers....in the same way as military people react in a certain way in a disaster.

I'm not sure this is something you can debate or have an opinion as it was a terrible tragedy .... Just pray its a never a situation you find yourself in.

I thought they found the bloke in the wreckage

I cannot begin to imagine the horror of what happened in that balloon basket.
IMO unless you were there you simply can't "blame" any of the survivors

Doesn't he have 70% burns? Maybe he jumped because he was on fire?

Human instinct to save your own life probably kicks in. It's so easy to sit on our sofas and say "I would do this" because you really don't know and thankfully, you probably never will.

I don't think Egyptian ballooists are at the same level as British balloonists, not from what the association was saying on the radio yesterday morning, neither are their H&S procedures anywhere near as rigorous.

It doesnt matter how highly trained you are, no one is going to stand there and be burned to death.

I do think it is different for a passenger than for a pilot. A pilot has taken responsibility for the vessel and should have training or at least experience behind them to assist their judgment. The passenger has no responsibility, training or experience and it can be understood they would react entirely instinctively.

If there was something he could do to change the outcome then i could see your point but what would be gained by someone else loosing their life?

Human nature means you do what it takes to survive.

It was a horrific, terrible way to die and in that split second who could possibly be expected to think straight.

sirzy I don't think he should have died instead. It just made me shudder at the thought of being in a stricken vessel I have no control over. I hate flying at the best of times, but the captain of a plane wouldn't strap a parachute on and wave you all goodbye if the plane was going down.

It's an awful tragedy

His face was on fire when he jumped.

The balloon was still a very long way up. The heat of the fire made it rise higher very suddenly after that and nothing could have been done to prevent that fact.

The whole thing is an awful, awful tragedy and in this situation, with your body on fire, i don't imagine any human being would have acted in a 'stiff upper lip - women and children and any other passengers before me' manner.

Did he jump really???

Or fall

Or get shoved/pushed In the panic....

Come on!!!!

he wasn't a captain of a plane though, he wasn't a highly trained highly paid professional, was he? He was on fire and heading for certain death. I'd like to see you do something differet in that situation.

What you are saying is saying he should have died aswell though even if thats not what you are thinking. He couldn't have stopped the crash so if he hadn't jumped all it would have meant was another family in mourning.

With a plane there more likely to be something they can do to lessen the impact ensure it is safe but by all accounts there was nothing he could have done to change the outcome.

He jumped because HE was on fire, that's what I read.

My interpretation was he was first out of the basket, when it was still at its lowest point.

I'm not debating who should/should not have died, and the pilot may not have been highly paid but surely there's and element of training. I couldn't fly one of those damn things, and I'm pretty sure once the professional opts out in that situation, panic ensues.

So yes my first though was, "wow, the pilot jumping out didn't help surely".

I'm not debating who should/should not have died,

So what are you doing then? You are saying someone should have ignored the fact they could make a spilt second decision which may save them and stayed to face a certain death. That sounds very much like debating who should/should not have died to me

I dont think this situation is comparable to the concordia. The concordia captain should have stayed and coordinated the evacuation. In the balloon there is nothing to coordinate. Other people could have jmped, for whatever reason but didnt. Im not judginv them for that, situation must have been terrifying and happened quickly.

The poor bloke was burnt himself, he couldnt have done anything.

I think the event is a good reminder not todo this sort of thing in many foreign countries as safety regs arent the same. I remember a white water rafting trip i think in turkey where a young european girl died when the raft flipped. She was too young to be on such a rough river but parents obviusly trust the local guides who say its fine.

Sorry for typis am on phone.

He probably knew that the balloon would go shooting up in seconds, making it impossible for him to escape. I suspect survival instinct took over. Why should he have stayed to burn alive if he knew there was nothing he could do?