Balloon tragedy report due out today

The scene of the fatal balloon crash in Clareville, near Carterton. Photo / File

Details of the Wairarapa hot air balloon tragedy will be revealed in an interim report this morning.

The pilot and 10 passengers died when the balloon collided with power lines and caught fire near Carterton on January 7. There were no survivors.

The Transport Accident Investigation Commission will this morning release an interim report on its investigation into the crash.

The report will outline the facts so far and set out continuing lines of inquiry, but will not provide an analysis of what happened.

A full report is due next March.

The families of the victims, who have been briefed on the interim report, have asked for privacy from the media.

The report comes after the commission in February made an urgent safety recommendation urging the Civil Aviation Authority to carry out inspections on all 73 balloons in New Zealand.

The Masterton locals killed in the crash were pilot Lance Hopping, 53, Valerie Bennett, 70, and husband and wife Desmond and Ann Dean, aged 70 and 65.

The victims from the Wellington region were Ms Bennett's cousin Denise Dellabarca, 58; husband and wife Howard and Diana Cox, aged 71 and 63; Lower Hutt couple Stephen Hopkirk, 50, and Belinda Harter, 49; and young Wellington couple Chrisjan Jordann, 21, and Alexis Still, 19.