The accident, the deadliest of its kind in the U.S. history, happened shortly after 7:40 a.m. (1240 GMT) on Saturday near Lockhart, a city about 50 km south of the Lone Star State capital of Austin, when the hot air balloon carrying at least 16 people crashed, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) confirmed in a statement.
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Erik Grosof of the National Transportation Safety Board said the agency deemed it a major accident and a full investigation would begin on Sunday when more national officials arrive.
Debris of the balloon is seen at the site of a balloon crash accident near Lockhart, a city in the central part of the USA state of Texas, July 30, 2016.
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. She described the balloon’s basket catching on fire, saying it looked “like a big fireball”.
The crash in Egypt occurred after a mid-air gas explosion.
Ms Wylie, who called 911, said the weather seemed clear and that she frequently saw hot air balloons in the area.
Russ Sargent said on Facebook the balloon was severed from the basket causing the balloon to shoot up into the air while the basket crashed to the ground.
“I looked around and it was like a fireball going up”, she said, noting that the fireball was under large power lines and nearly high enough to reach the bottom of them.
NTSB spokesman Christopher O’Neill said 16 was the maximum number of passengers allowed under federal regulations governing hot air balloon operations.
“This will be a hard site for us to work through”, Mr Grosof said. The officials spoke on condition that they not be named because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly.
Heart of Texas’ website says it offers rides in the San Antonio, Houston and Austin areas.
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Robert Sumwalt, who will head the NTSB’s crash investigation team, said he was studying the board’s recommendations to the FAA based on previous hot air balloon crashes. (Rodolfo Gonzalez/Austin American-Statesman via AP) First responders and investigators appear at a scene of a balloon crash that reports indicate took the lives of 16 people near Maxwell, Texas in Caldwell County Saturday, July 30, 2016. The NTSB investigated 760 such accidents between 1964 and 2013.
