There’s no evidence maintenance problems caused the crash of the balloon, owned by Heart of Texas Hot Air Balloon Ride, he said.
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At 7:27 a.m. Saturday, pilot Alfred “Skip” Nichols used an app to send a position update to a crew following the balloon in a vehicle, normally an indication he planned to land, NTSB member Robert Sumwalt said at an afternoon news conference.
Authorities have not publicly named anyone killed in Saturday’s crash, saying it could take a while to identify the bodies.
An impromptu memorial stands outside the home of Tresa and Joe Owens in Brookshire, Texas, on Monday, Aug. 1, 2016.
Two more people died in Houston in 1989 when a balloon struck power lines, setting the basket on fire.
Previously, the highest number of fatalities in a single U.S. hot air balloon crash was six.
After a hot air balloon crash in Texas on Saturday killed all 16 people aboard, revelations about the pilot’s past are raising questions about the oversight of balloon operators. A hot air balloon hit high-tension power lines on Saturday, July 30, 2016, before crashing into a pasture in Central Texas, killing all 16 on board, including Matt and Sunday Rowan.
In 1983, two people were killed and one injured in an accident in Azle, Texas, when the balloon touched down beside a power line.
“I know he was safety conscious”, Fialka said.
Basically, a hot air balloon is controlled by burners which heat the air inside the balloon’s envelope.
Families of the victims have begun to share photos taken by the victims before and during the balloon ride.
A former girlfriend of Nichols’ described him as a recovering alcoholic.
A drunken-driving conviction that occurs within three years of a previous conviction is grounds for suspension or revocation of a pilot’s license, according to the Federal Aviation Administration, which oversees hot air balloon regulations. He was returned to prison in April 2010 after his parole was revoked because of his drunken-driving conviction that year.
Jaworski says balloon pilots need a private license that includes six hours of instruction and then several hours of solo time. In a lawsuit filed against Nichols in 2013, a passenger said she was hurt when Nichols crash-landed a balloon in the St. Louis suburbs.
Nichols’ ballooning operations in Missouri also came under scrutiny by the Better Business Bureau, which in 2008 issued a warning to consumers about booking flights with his company, Air Balloon Sports. Of course, even regular drug testing doesn’t guarantee that a balloon pilot won’t be stoned or drunk for any particular flight, but knowing that a pilot isn’t being tested regularly (and this is assuming the companies aren’t testing pilots themselves) might cause one to ask some relevant questions before climbing aboard.
Court records show the airman was arrested and found guilty of drink driving in 1990, twice in 2002 and again in 2010.
He was also convicted of a drug crime in 2000 and spent about a year and a half in prison before being paroled. “And, at this point, I’m sorry to say that we do not”, said Sumwalt.
When pilots apply for a ballooning certificate with the FAA, they are not required to disclose any prior drunken-driving convictions, only drug convictions.
When it comes to safety, Kersten says that the precautions taken on the ground before the balloon goes up are critical.
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– From Associated Press writer Emily Schmall in Fort Worth, Texas.
