PHOENIX (NEWSnet/AP) — An autopsy report has been amended to show the pilot of a hot air balloon that plummeted in Arizona, killing him and three others, had been administered an anesthetic after the crash.
Earlier this week, Pinal County Medical Examiner’s Office said toxicology tests showed Cornelius van der Walt had a high amount of ketamine in his blood, but did not specify how it entered his system or when.
The balloon, operated by Droplyne Hot Air Balloon Rides, plummeted 2,000 feet to the desert floor on Jan. 14 south of Phoenix.
The amended report, released Friday, clarified that neither paramedics from Eloy Fire Department nor hospital staff administered ketamine, but the air ambulance company that transported van der Walt to a hospital did. The report had no other substantial revisions.
Thirteen people were aboard the Kubicek BB 85 Z balloon when it launched from Eloy. Eight were skydivers who exited the gondola prior to the crash. Van der Walt, 37, and three passengers died: 28-year-old Kaitlynn Bartrom of Andrews, Indiana; 28-year-old Chayton Wiescholek of Union City, Michigan; and 24-year-old Atahan Kiliccote of Cupertino, California. Another woman was critically injured.
Cause of the crash remains under investigation.
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