Footage flooded social media of a tragic hot air balloon accident in southern Brazil.
Shocking Footage
Tragic and shocking footage from southern Brazil flooded X and various social media platforms of a hot air balloon accident. WARNING: Some of this footage is graphic and disturbing.
Hot air balloon carrying 21 people crashes in southern Brazil
13 people have survived!
— Out of Context Human Race (@NoContextHumans) June 21, 2025
Brazil.
Another shocking video is making waves online, and this one is hard to watch. It captures the hot air balloon engulfed in flames, forcing passengers to jump from the basket as it plummets to the ground.
— ⭐️Edwin⭐️ (@Nuked4Every1) June 21, 2025
In this post it appears (and according to reports) that the balloon which seemed rather full was struggling to get off the ground from the start though it’s unclear if the passenger load was related to the crash.
Details Of The Accident
Of the 21 passengers, eight perished and 13 thankfully survived. One of those survivors was the pilot of the balloon who recounted the incident.
“According to the pilot, who is one of the survivors, a fire started inside the basket, so he started to lower the balloon, and when the balloon was very close to the ground he told people to jump,” officer Tiago Luiz Lemos, from the Praia Grande police station, told reporters at the scene.
“They started to jump, but some people did not manage to. The flames started to grow and because of the weight, the balloon began to rise again.
“It later fell because of a loss of suspension.” – BBC
It’s clear in one of those videos that, sadly, one person jumped from the balloon before it was able to descend. It’s not clear in media reports just how many were able to jump as the pilot instructed and if that was, in fact, effective in saving lives.
A backup burner in the basket had ignited causing the pilot to descend but it wasn’t enough. Authorities evacuated passengers and cleared the area on concerns further explosions and fire could spread from the gas around the launch zone. The incident occurred on June 21st, 2025 and it’s not clear at the time of writing whether those who initially survived will be able to recover.
Conclusion
A tragic and gruesome hot air balloon incident in southern Brazil that took the lives of 8 of 21 passengers has been shared online. The nature of this incident was graphic and horrifying to witness. It’s quite possible that the pilot of the craft was able to save so many through clever and swift action, but not enough detail is available at this time.
The Hindenburg and other dirigible disasters marked the end for balloon flights . The concept was ridiculous .
I dearly wish people would educate themselves on things before they comment about them. The ONLY thing wrong with Hindenburg disaster was pure human greed. If it had been filled with HELIUM like it was supposed to instead of HYDROGEN it wouldn’t have been ABLE to catch fire. Dirigibles are extremely safe, when people bother to follow the instructions instead make “cost cutting measures”, however, nothing can survive bad publicity.
Very sad event. According to local news, the balloon had capacity to carry 27 people and had 21 people inside including the pilot. Fire started and fire extinguisher did not work. Pilot was able to bring the balloon close to the ground where 13 people jumped safely. With less weight, balloon started to go up again with 8 people still inside. 4 jumped at around 150ft and died. The other 4 died inside from the fire. Absolutely tragic.
So if this account is correct, the pilot as quoted above jumped.
Wow, talk about NOT going down, or in this case UP, with the ship.
Pilot jumped when it was close to the ground. Not sure why the other 8 didn’t, maybe not enough time. The entire basket was on fire, this is not a ship or plane where the pilot could still try to save it. He either jumped or he would die. I get your point but don’t think at that point he was a “pilot” anymore as there wasn’t any more he could do so either save him or just die with the other 8.
Not a “pilot” , not a “flying machine” in any sense of the word . Ridiculous concept from the beginning .
According to local media, company had all approvals and was operating legally. As for the fire extinguisher, who knows. Maybe panic among 21 people up in the air with fire around them with nowhere to escape may have led to someone failing to operate the fire extinguisher correctly. I just cannot imagine what went through the heads of the people inside that basket.
As I understand it, the safety inspections and pilot training are similar to requirements in the US. ( hot air balloons are considered very safe) How the fire extinguisher failed is a mystery.
My prayers for the victims and the injured.
@Kyle, you might want to edit your post. The math doesn’t add up.
“eight perished and 13 thankfully survived”
“took the lives of 13 of 21 passengers”
Just did a baloon trip in Cappadoccia, Turkey earlier this month. They sure pack ’em in on these flights — 20 people on my flight.
Even in Seattle I have personally seen air balloons be blown off course with fathers hanging on to rope balloon rope tethers while the balloon piolet trying to keep the run away balloon from crashing down and burn holes in the balloon.