The distraught pilot of the hot air balloon that caught fire and crashed in in Surrey, B.C., on Friday night will meet with Transportation Safety Board officials Tuesday to try to explain what happened.

People look on after a hot air balloon caught fire and crashed in Surrey, B.C.People look on after a hot air balloon caught fire and crashed in Surrey, B.C.
(Cheryl Birch/CBC)

Pilot Stephen Pennock is "devastated by the accident'' that killed two people and injured 11 on Friday night and is trying to put together as much information as possible for a thorough investigation, said John Kageorge, a spokesman for Fantasy Balloon Charters of Langley, B.C.

Now, Pennock is focused on the question of what caused a fireball to erupt in the hot air balloon gondola Friday, causing its tethers to snap and allowing the balloon to rise into the air before all of the passengers could get out. Shannon Knackstedt, 49, and her 21-year-old daughter Gemma died when the balloon turned into a fireball and plunged into a nearby RV Park in Surrey.

Having flown Fantasy Balloon charters for 16 years, and describing himself on the company's website as the most experienced balloon pilot in B.C., Pennock is preparing to face transportation officials after the company suspended operations.

"We're very eager, of course, to provide to them details about this specific launch as we're concerned about finding out what caused the fireball to occur first in the cockpit of this hot air balloon, and then spread to the passengers as well," Kageorge said.

Witnesses said the panic started when the balloon was about six metres off the ground.

Horrified family members watched from the ground as the balloon went up in flames.

Kageorge said he was told that passengers weighed the basket down, but once they jumped out to avoid the fire, the balloon shot up in the air.

Witnesses said it looked like a giant fireball as the balloon and its propane tanks climbed into the sky and then plunged into the Hazelmere RV Park in Surrey near the U.S. border, destroying three mobile homes and two cars.

Mother, daughter killed

Victims Shannon and Gemma Knackstedt of Langley were on the balloon ride with Shannon's husband and their other daughter, Justine, who remains in hospital.

The family was celebrating Justine's birthday last Thursday and Shannon's 50th on Aug. 29.

Meanwhile, Arlene Mullin lost her home when the hot air balloon crashed into her trailer in the RV park. It was one of three trailers destroyed in the blaze.

She told CBC News Monday she had just moments to escape from the trailer with her husband and two grandchildren.

"We ran out behind the trailer and there's fire exploding all over," she said. "The next thing I know is I'm behind the trailer and it's totally engulfed in flames. Within seven minutes I'm told my trailer and the next-door trailer were both gone."

With files from the Canadian Press