some progress, a change of wind direction pushed them back over land some 5 km from their starting point. According to contemporary accounts, the balloon caught fire in midair before suddenly deflating and crashing near Wimereux in the Pas-de-Calais, from an estimated height of 450 m (1,500 ft). Both occupants were killed. Eight days later, his former fiancée died, possibly having committed suicide. A commemorative obelisk was later erected at the site of the crash. The King had a medal struck and gave his family a pension. The modern hybrid gas and hot air balloon is named the Rozière balloon after his pioneering design. See also List of firsts in aviation Timeline of hydrogen technologies List of inventors killed by their own inventions References Barthélemy Faujas de Saint-Fond (1783, 1784) Description des expériences de la machine aérostatique de MM. Montgolfier, &c. Simon Schama (1987) Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution, p. 123-31. Further reading Wonderful Balloon Ascents, Part 2, Chapter 10 (1870) by Camille Flammarion has an account of Rozier's final flight. External links A Short Course of Ballooning History https://web.archive.org/web/20070927233351/http://clg-pilatre-de-rozier.scola.ac-paris.fr/PDRBio.htm 1754 births 1785 deaths People from Metz French balloonists Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in France Aviation history of France Aviation accidents and incidents in 1785 Flight altitude record holders Balloon flight record holders French aviation record holders Inventors killed by their own invention