Electronic devices recovered from the flight are being shipped to Washington, where the NTSB investigation will continue, he said.
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Nichols, owner of Heart of Texas Hot Air Balloon Rides, was piloting the early morning pleasure flight when it is thought to have struck power lines near Lockhart, Texas on Saturday, killing all onboard. The crash “has taken from us our owner and chief pilot, Skip Nichols, as well as 15 passengers, all of whom saw what was planned to be a special day turn into an unspeakable tragedy”, Sarah Nichols, Skip Nichols’ mother and the company’s operations manager, wrote on Facebook late Sunday.
Balloon pilots say it’s a solid track record considering the number of people killed each year across the country in vehicle crashes and small plane accidents.
He pleaded guilty to driving while intoxicated in St. Louis, Mo., in 1990, six years before he got his commercial license to pilot hot air balloons.
The AP reports that Nichols had “at least four convictions for drunken driving” and spent time in prison after he was convicted of a drug crime in 2000.
He had served about 18 months on the drug charge, getting out in 2004.
Nichols was identified as the pilot by his company, which has suspended operations. But the agency is unlikely to accept an airline pilot with convictions for driving under the influence, he said.
“Our interest in the drug and alcohol (offenses) has to do with the ability to operate an aircraft”, Lunsford said.
The FAA report notes it is “exceptionally easy” to obtain an FAA license to pilot a balloon.
Nichols pleaded guilty to drunken driving in connection with 1997 and 1999 arrests in Missouri. A former girlfriend described Nichols as a recovering alcoholic.
“I knew him to be a safe, competent pilot”, Bryant said.
In 2013, Nichols and his company settled a personal-injury lawsuit filed by the passenger who said she got hurt after the crash landing near St. Louis. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed. There are as many as 200 large balloon tour operators in the country, ranging in size from small outfits to large, multiballoon companies handling up to 25,000 passengers a year, Chatterton said. Because it was drifting toward power lines, he said, he made what he called a controlled landing amid trees.
“In addition, pilot Alfred Skip Nichols’ driver’s license had been suspended twice and he was sued over a 2009 balloon landing that a passenger said left her injured, documents show”.
“I feel that there is room for improvement”, said Scott Appelman, president and pilot at Rainbow Ryders, one of the largest hot air balloon companies in the Southwest. Instead, most revolved around cancellations due to adverse weather and subsequent disputes over refunds.
Since the crash, the Associated Press has reported that Nichols has had a lengthy history of Better Business Bureau complaints and criminal convictions.
In July, the Better Business Bureau warned customers about Nichols and his businesses for a third time.
According to the FAA report, a Heart of Texas balloon made a hard landing in the soccer field of an unidentified Kyle church on August 3, 2014, because the retrieval team parked a vehicle in the balloon’s landing area. “However, Cannon said, there is no oversight of that reporting requirement for balloon pilots”.
Investigators said while descending, the hot air balloon hit high tension wires before bursting into flames.
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Another company employee, Phil Ferraz, told the Austin American-Statesman that Nichols was concerned about safety and developed his love of flying from his father, a pilot in Vietnam.
