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A HOT air balloon crash victim texted his girlfriend, telling her he loved her, moments before he plunged to his death.
Chayton Wiescholek, 28, was one of four people killed when the hot air balloon crashed to the ground in Arizona on Sunday.
Thirteen people were on the balloon, operated by Droplyne Hot Air Balloon Rides, at the time of takeoff.
Chayton’s girlfriend, Kinsey Taylor, was among eight skydivers who jumped from the balloon before the tragedy.
The skydiving was intentional and successfully completed before the hot air balloon started experiencing issues.
Four passengers and the pilot were still on the balloon when it crashed at 7:45 am in Eloy, located about 65 miles southeast of Phoenix.
“Goodbye, this isn’t going to be good, I love you,” Wiescholek texted his girlfriend while he was still on the balloon.
Taylor called him when she landed on the ground and saw the message, Wiescholek’s father told local Fox affiliate KTVU.
“Somebody else answered his phone and said, ‘This is not good, you need to be here now,’” the heartbroken dad told the outlet.
Taylor tore her parachute harness off and ran two miles to the crash site in an effort to see her boyfriend of five years, but she was held back by cops.
“My wife found out that they were planning on, in the very near future and I’m thinking in the matter of a few weeks, they were going to go to the courthouse and get married,” Wiescholek’s dad said.
“He knew he was going to die,” Chayton’s mom, Rhonda, told Fox affiliate WXMI.
“Everybody adored him because he was just that type of person. … He would do anything for you.”
In addition to Wiescholek, Kaitlynn Bartrom, 28, of Andrews, Indiana; Atahan Kiliccote, 24, of Cupertino, California; and the pilot, Cornelius Van Der Walt, 37, of Eloy, were also killed in the crash.
One person, a 23-year-old woman, survived and was in critical condition, according to police.
The Eloy Police Department is working with the National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration to investigate what led up to the horrific tragedy.
The cause of the crash remains unknown but the NTSB believes there was an “unspecified issue” with the balloon’s envelope, the bag that fills with hot air causing the balloon to rise.
As the investigation continues, a GoFundMe has been launched to support Wiescholek’s memorial and funeral services.
It has already raised more than $11,000.
“Never in a million years, did I think that our family would get this news,” wrote Gwendolyn Morrow, the organizer of the fundraiser.
“This accident was very clearly a devastation, and there’s no way our family and friends could have prepared our hearts for this tragedy.”
“We want to continue to remember Chayton, as the life of the party, the adventure seeker, and solid voice of reason,” Morrow said.
“For most, when we sit and reminisce on our fondest memories with Chayton, we smile because that’s what he did, lit everything and everyone up with him.”
She continued, “We truly appreciate you all as we come together to remember him and the impact he had on us all.”