Pilatre de Rozier. Engraving of Jean Pilatre de Rozier (1754-1785), the French physician who was the first person to fly and the first to die in an aviation accident. Rozier made a tethered ascent in a balloon built by the Montgolfier brothers on 15 October 1783. Rozier and the Marquis d'Arlandes piloted a Montgolfier balloon on the first manned aerial voyage on 21 November 1783. Taking off from Paris, France, the flight lasted about 25 minutes and covered 9 kilometres. Rozier devised a balloon with two envelopes, the upper containing hydrogen gas and the lower air heated by a brazier. Whilst attempting to cross the English Channel on 15 June 1785, the balloon caught fire and crashed.