Investigators search for clues after hot-air balloon crashes near Austin, Texas, killing all 16 people on board.
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The 49-year-old pilot was Alfred “Skip” Nichols, who was also the owner of the operating company, Heart of Texas Hot Air Balloon Rides.
Saturday’s accident near Lockhart, Texas, may change that.
The names of the passengers killed on Saturday have not been officially released but social media posts and local media reports indicated the victims included a couple celebrating their 23rd wedding anniversary. But the incident is likely to spark debate over how balloon operators are regulated and what can be done to prevent accidents. The balloon likely hit power lines before a fire broke out causing it to plummet to the ground. No current log book has been found, but it may have been on board the balloon and destroyed in the crash, he said.
On Sunday, Josh Rowan, Matt’s brother, wrote on Facebook that their family had spent the day talking to numerous media outlets, “trying to tell their story”. The couple had been married for less than six months.
Joshua Rowan told NBC News that his brother and sister-in-law were on the doomed flight, one of the deadliest balloon crashes in history.
Sunday and Matt Rowan both grew up in College Station. Mrs. Rowan worked at a clothing store, he said. His research centered on treating burn victims.
The number of deaths involving hot air balloons has declined in recent years.
FAA spokesman Lynn 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”. “Their response has been classified as ‘unacceptable'”.
The firm’s records as well as photos and videos will be part of the investigation, Sumwalt said.
Investigators look over a hot air balloon that crashed in Central Texas on July 30, 2016. “Power line strikes are a factor in about 15 percent of ballooning accidents”. He said several passengers seemed to be related. Nichols was not a member of the group. Instead, it supported a partnership “to develop and implement qualitative programs that will achieve enhanced safety for balloon pilots, crew, and the flying public without adding unnecessary and burdensome regulation”. “Soon after takeoff, she stopped all communication”, he said.
Witness Margaret Wylie, who lives in a nearby mobile home, told John that she “heard these pop pops as the hot air balloon hit these high tension wires, and then she saw a great fireball go up, nearly as tall as the lowest wires”.
“According to others, she did just attend her 30th high school reunion that took place a few weeks ago”, Lyle said of Lorilee.
Nichols had at least one run-in with the law over drinking and driving.
The officer said that based on photographs, he is confident the man arrested in Missouri is the same man who piloted the Texas balloon. However, Cannon said, there is no oversight of that reporting requirement for balloon pilots. Pilots do not steer balloons, instead, the “envelope” is guided with bursts of lit propane gas that uses the wind to blow it in the desired direction. “They were really happy and they were in love and they were really starting a life together”, he said.
“The weather report in the area showed a 500-foot ceiling”.
“He did not fly when he wasn’t supposed to”, Wendy Bartch told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. Conditions at the time of the crash: fog/mist. “What else can you do to make it any safer?”
According to NBC News, a hot air balloon caught fire and crashed this past Saturday near Lockhart, Texas and no one survived.
Hersman recommended requiring commercial balloon operators to have letters of authorization to hold tour flights and to give passengers a similar level of safety oversight as those on airplane and helicopter tours.
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Up to 24 people are allowed on a balloon flight, according to the company’s website.
