1 Dead, Multiple Injured in Hot Air Balloon Proposal Gone Awry

What should have been one of the happiest days in a young Brazilian couple’s life swiftly turned into a tragedy following an unfortunate aviation disaster.

As the New York Post reports, college student Gabrielle Nascimento, 27, and her boyfriend, Tiago Kempinas, 37, traveled seven hours from their home in Rio de Janeiro to what was described as a “clandestine” spot in São Paulo in order to take a hot air balloon ride.

What Nascimento didn’t realize is that Kempinas had taken her this far in order to propose. She, however, was more worried about both her fear of heights and the strength of the wind when they arrived at the balloon’s boarding site. “As it was very windy in Boituva, I asked a woman, who I believe was the company’s receptionist, if we would fly,” Nascimento shared. “She said ‘yes.’”

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Still nervous as they began to board the balloon, Nascimento asked about the wind again—this time querying the pilot—who told her “he was monitoring the situation using an aeronautical device and that it was possible to fly safely until 9 a.m.”

Shortly after, the couple hopped aboard one of two balloons along with 31 other passengers.

When the balloon had reached about 500 feet in the air, Kempinas pulled out the ring and asked Nascimento to marry him. Though she was completely taken aback, it was a joyful mood inside the basket—until the wind seemed to pose a problem.

“It was beautiful, until it turned into a nightmare,” Nascimento said. “It was horrible.”

Proposal on illegal hot air balloon ride ends in tragedy after crash left one dead and multiple injured https://t.co/RGmSZKRuUW pic.twitter.com/DFVuIh7mmh

— New York Post (@nypost) June 17, 2025

While the balloon that took off with them opted to land, due to the wind conditions, Nascimento recalled their pilot, Fabio Pereira, discussing wanting to continue on with his trip on a radio. It was at that point that he lost control of the vessel.

“At that moment, the balloon started going too fast,” Nascimento recalled. “He then tried to make the first landing in an orange grove.”

But the winds were too strong, and began dragging the balloon across a field, as four of the passengers were thrown from the basket. The balloon took flight once again, then came back down, at which point Nascimento, Kempinas, and most of the remaining passengers jumped out.

Nascimento recalled seeing one of her fellow passengers, Juliana Pereira, 27 (who has no relation to the pilot) struggling on the ground in what was clearly a lot of pain. She was rushed to a nearby hospital, where she later died.

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“She was already unconscious and her coat was torn,” Nascimento said of Pereira. “She was moaning in pain and her husband was trying to keep her alive. At that point, the pilot was also injured.”

Tragically, Pereira’s family shared that she was a newlywed. The hot air balloon trip was her Valentine’s Day celebration with her new husband, Leandro Pereira (Valentine’s Day is celebrated on June 14 in Brazil).

Eleven other passengers were taken to the hospital; fortunately, they only suffered minor injuries.

Authorities soon declared the hot air balloon operation illegal. Nascimento and Kempinas’ pilot was not licensed to perform such a flight, only private ones. He was arrested and charged with aggravated manslaughter and irregular ballooning activity.

As for Nascimento? She said “yes” to Kempinas’ proposal. But the incident has forever changed her. “I will never get in a balloon again, let alone a plane,” she said.