Hot air balloon rides in the Egyptian city of Luxor resumed on Wednesday following a brief hiatus after two foreign tourists were injured when one of the balloons made an emergency landing on Monday.
In a statement announcing the resumption, the country’s civil aviation ministry said that a committee was formed to look into the accident and ensure that rides were safe for tourists again.
The committee gave the green light for rides to resume on Tuesday night, one day after the incident, which saw a balloon carrying 28 tourists veer off course amid high-wind speeds. The balloon reportedly collided with another while in the air, resulting in a minor tearing of its parachute which caused the emergency landing.
Alaa El Din Mohamed, 49, a hot air balloon ride operator in Luxor, witnessed Monday’s incident. He and other ride operators in the city were surprised by the attention the incident received.
“It really wasn’t a big deal at all. The balloon rose up in the air about 10 metres, not 60 as everyone is saying. If it was 60 metres and they had to emergency land, everyone in that basket would be dead,” he said, “Keep in mind 60 metres is larger than a 15-storey building.”
Ride operators in the area praised the quick response of the pilot of the balloon involved in the incident, Mr Mohamed revealed, saying that it was clever of him to rev up the burner when he did, which markedly slowed down the emergency landing.
“I think the fact that the tear in the parachute was small also helped a great deal,” he added.
Mohamed said that the incident, videos of which were widely shared on social media, was over in just a few minutes.
“Media in this country likes to blow everything out of proportion, which is exactly what happened here. But I understand the eye is always on Luxor because of how important it is for tourism,” continued Mr Mohamed.
Hot air balloon rides are among Luxor’s most popular tourist activities as many like to enjoy a bird’s-eye view of the city’s Pharaonic temples.
Balloon accidents are not uncommon in the city, where a hot-air balloon crash killed 19 tourists in 2013.
In another incident in 2009, 16 tourists sustained injuries when the balloon they were in veered off course and collided with a cell phone tower.
Seven tourists were injured when another balloon had a similar collision the year before.
A sunrise balloon tour in Luxor
What is a calorie?
A food calorie, or kilocalorie, is a measure of nutritional energy generated from what is consumed.
One calorie, is the amount of heat needed to raise the temperature of 1 kilogram of water by 1°C.
A kilocalorie represents a 1,000 true calories of energy.
Energy density figures are often quoted as calories per serving, with one gram of fat in food containing nine calories, and a gram of protein or carbohydrate providing about four.
Alcohol contains about seven calories a gram.
Correspondents
By Tim Murphy
(Grove Press)
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Ahmad El Sayed is Senior Associate at Charles Russell Speechlys, a law firm headquartered in London with offices in the UK, Europe, the Middle East and Hong Kong.
Experience: Commercial litigator who has assisted clients with overseas judgments before UAE courts. His specialties are cases related to banking, real estate, shareholder disputes, company liquidations and criminal matters as well as employment related litigation.
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Five famous companies founded by teens
There are numerous success stories of teen businesses that were created in college dorm rooms and other modest circumstances. Below are some of the most recognisable names in the industry:
- Facebook: Mark Zuckerberg and his friends started Facebook when he was a 19-year-old Harvard undergraduate.
- Dell: When Michael Dell was an undergraduate student at Texas University in 1984, he started upgrading computers for profit. He starting working full-time on his business when he was 19. Eventually, his company became the Dell Computer Corporation and then Dell Inc.
- Subway: Fred DeLuca opened the first Subway restaurant when he was 17. In 1965, Mr DeLuca needed extra money for college, so he decided to open his own business. Peter Buck, a family friend, lent him $1,000 and together, they opened Pete’s Super Submarines. A few years later, the company was rebranded and called Subway.
- Mashable: In 2005, Pete Cashmore created Mashable in Scotland when he was a teenager. The site was then a technology blog. Over the next few decades, Mr Cashmore has turned Mashable into a global media company.
- Oculus VR: Palmer Luckey founded Oculus VR in June 2012, when he was 19. In August that year, Oculus launched its Kickstarter campaign and raised more than $1 million in three days. Facebook bought Oculus for $2 billion two years later.
