Police in Texas say 16 people have been killed after a hot air balloon caught fire and crashed.
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But a spokesman at the scene, Erik Grosof, said teams from that agency and the Federal Bureau of Investigation were being dispatched to determine how the crash unfolded.
Authorities would not confirm the exact number of deaths in Saturday’s crash, but Lynn Lunsford with the Federal Aviation Administration said the balloon was carrying at least 16 people.
An official with the knowledge of the investigation says the balloon belonged to the company called “Heart of Texas Hot Air Balloon Rides”. Before Saturday, it appears the worst recorded accident in United States ballooning history was in August 1993, when six people died when a sudden gust of wind caused their balloon to collide with a power line near Aspen, Colorado, and the basket was severed and fell to the ground.
Saturday’s Texas crash happened at about 7.40am local time in a pasture near Lockhart, about 30 miles south of Austin.
Three people died in May 2014 during an air balloon festival in Virginia when a balloon hit a power line and burst into flames while landing.
If all 16 fatalities are confirmed, the crash would be the deadliest USA hot air balloon accident on record, according to the NTSB.
According to Austin, Texas station KVUE-TV, the company has stated that its chief pilot, Skip Nichols, was at the controls when the hot air balloon hit the power lines and crashed.
Margaret Wylie, 66 and an area resident, told reporters the balloon ignited into a fireball.
Mr Nichols, 49, is also the registered owner of Missouri-based Air Balloon Sports. No one answered the door at a home in Kyle, Texas, believed to be his.
The FAA inspects the balloons used for commercial ventures after 100 hours of flight time or at least once a year. The FAA’s Huerta responded that regulations were unnecessary because the risks were too low.
Emergency responders reported the fire likely occurred in the basket portion of the balloon, the Lockhart Post-Register reported.
The NTSB revealed little about the accident, saying investigators would begin looking into the cause Saturday night and Sunday morning. “I think the fact that it is open-unacceptable pretty much speaks for itself”, he said.
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Lunsford said it’s hard to say whether the Texas crash will cause the agency to reconsider NTSB’s recommendations “until we’ve had a chance to gather and examine the evidence in this particular case”.
