Proposal on illegal hot air balloon ride ends in tragedy after crash left one dead and multiple injured

New York Post

17-06-2025

A proposal aboard an illegal hot air balloon in Brazil turned deadly after strong winds caused it to crash — killing a recently married passenger.
Gabrielle Nascimento, 27, and her fiancé, Tiago Kempinas, 37, drove seven hours from Rio de Janeiro home to the city of Boituva in São Paulo on Sunday shortly before 5 a.m. before heading to a 'clandestine' operation to board the hot air balloon, the Brazilian news outlet G1 reported.
'As it was very windy in Boituva, I asked a woman, who I believe was the company's receptionist, if we would fly. She said 'yes,'' Nascimento recalled.
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5 Gabrielle Nascimento and her fiancé Tiago Kempinas.
G1
'We boarded the plane to a location that we later discovered was clandestine, where two balloons were being inflated.'
Nascimento, a college student, had no idea she was being proposed to onboard and was more worried about her fear of heights before takeoff.
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'I asked about the wind, and the pilot said he was monitoring the situation using an aeronautical device and that it was possible to fly safely until 9 a.m.,' she said.
The couple, along with 31 other passengers, got in the basket and took off.
As the balloon glided about 328 to 492 feet in the air, Kempinas pulled out a ring and popped the question to Nascimento, who said yes, she told the outlet.
5 Nascimento, a college student, had no idea she was being proposed to onboard and was more worried about her fear of heights before takeoff.
G1
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However, soon after their joyful moment in the sky, flight conditions took a turn for the worse, and the pilot began to lose control of the hot air balloon.
'It was beautiful, until it turned into a nightmare. It was horrible,' Nascimento recalled. 'I will never get in a balloon again, let alone a plane.'
The college student and other passengers watched as the second balloon that took off alongside theirs quickly landed due to the strong winds.
She said the pilot, Fabio Pereira, was talking on a two-way radio about continuing just as all hell broke loose.
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5 Soon after their joyful moment in the sky, flight conditions took a turn for the worse, and the pilot began to lose control of the hot air balloon.
G1
'At that moment, the balloon started going too fast,' she said. 'He then tried to make the first landing in an orange grove.'
Nascimento recalled watching four fellow passengers being flung from the basket as the winds dragged the balloon across a field.
After briefly retaking flight, Nascimento, her fiancé, and most of the passengers were able to jump out after it landed for a second time.
In the aftermath, Nascimento said she saw Juliana Pereira, 27, who has no relation to the pilot, squirming on the ground in agonizing pain.
Paramedics were called to the scene and rushed her to a nearby hospital, where she later died, G1 reported.
5 Nascimento recalled watching four fellow passengers being flung from the basket as the winds dragged the balloon across a field.
G1
'Everyone was screaming. The girl who unfortunately died was very injured. Apparently, her nose was broken, she was bleeding and her jaw was split open,' Nascimento said.
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'She was already unconscious and her coat was torn. She was moaning in pain and her husband was trying to keep her alive. At that point, the pilot was also injured. We flew over the plane for another 15 minutes until he saw a field, where we fell and were swept away.'
In total, 11 passengers needed to be taken to the hospital, all of whom suffered minor injuries in the crash landing, G1 reported.
Pereira's family said she had just recently married her husband, Leandro Pereira, and they had taken a hot air balloon ride to celebrate Valentine's Day, which is held on June 14 in Brazil.
5 Nascimento said she saw Juliana Pereira, 27, who has no relation to the pilot, squirming on the ground in agonizing pain.
G1
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'She was a very, very loved person. I can't believe Ju left,' Leandro's grandmother, Maria Aquino, told G1.
'I still can't believe it, guys. A trip like that took her away.'
The grieving husband's aunt, Jessica Aquino, slammed the balloon's pilot for being careless with his passengers, given the wind conditions.
'She really wanted to come on this trip. But how can they put 33 people inside a balloon in weather like this?' Aquino said.
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'Today the weather was horrible, very windy, so it was completely negligent of those people who put them inside.'
Investigators found that the pilot of the hot air balloon was only licensed to perform private flights.
He was arrested on aggravated manslaughter and irregular ballooning activity charges.