TEXAS - Hot Air Balloon Crashed, all 16 on board DEAD. (with photos)

[Guest]

Hot air balloon with 16 aboard crashes in Texas; no survivors
By Steven Visser and John Newsome, CNN
Updated 2:26 PM ET, Sat July 30, 2016
(CNN)A hot air balloon carrying 16 people crashed in central Texas after catching fire in the air on Saturday morning, the FAA said.
There were no survivors in the crash near Lockhart, the Caldwell County Sheriff's Office said in a statement to CNN affiliate TWC News Austin.

Here's the latest information on the crash:
-- The National Transportation Safety Board says the FBI is working with it to help document the scene, which is now secured for evidence collection.
-- An NTSB spokesman held a brief news conference near the scene Saturday afternoon, saying the accident involved a "significant loss of life," although he would not give an exact number of dead. "There were a number of fatalities," he said.

-- "This will be a difficult site for us to work through," the NTSB spokesman said.
-- CNN's Ed Lavandera says the area, which lies between Austin and San Antonio, is popular for weekend excursions such as ballooning or skydiving.
-- FAA representative Lynn Lunsford said the crash happened around 7:40 a.m. CT near Lockhart, about 30 miles south of Austin.
-- Gov. Greg Abbott expressed his condolences to the victims' families.
Jason Hanna [12:53 PM]  

-- If 16 people died, that would be an unprecedented death toll for a hot air balloon crash in the United States. The highest number of deaths in a single hot air balloon crash in the country before Saturday was six, in a 1993 accident in Colorado, according to the NTSB.
-- In 2013, 19 people died in a hot air balloon crash in Egypt, near the ancient city of Luxor. That was the world's deadliest hot air balloon accident in at least 20 years.
-- The Federal Aviation Administration and the NTSB are investigating the Texas crash.
CNN's Daniel Lewis contributed to this report
http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/30/us/texas-hot-air-balloon-crash/index.html

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/hot-air-balloon-carrying-at-least-16-people-crashes-in-texas/ar-BBv3dyI?ocid=ansmsnnews11 

Absolutely, one of my most reoccurring nightmares; but I was always alone! 
I just can't imagine these poor humans - the terror and this horrid way to die.
And so many people on one hot air balloon; I had no idea you could get that many people in one basket

[Ben Reilly]

Just a horrifying way to die, so sad to think of what they went through.

[eddie]

Was just going to say that's an horrific way to go because you must surely know, there's a pretty low chance of escape.

[Guest]

How horrible in such a way to die
I hate even to this day watching the 9/11 videos where people jump to their death rather than being burned alive
My heart goes out to tall the victims and their family and friends.

[Syl]

I agree it must be a terrifying way to die. RIP all the dead.

[HoratioTarr]

Dreadful. Those balloons have no means to get away with your life, I'd be very nervous going up in one, though I know accidents like this don't happen much.

[JulesV]

Sad.
Just one of those things.

[Guest]

News
Jul 31 2016, 6:18 pm ET
Doomed Texas Hot Air Balloon Likely Hit Power Lines Before Crash by  ElishaFieldstadt 
NTSB investigating Texas hot air balloon crash that killed 16


The hot air balloon that crashed, leaving all 16 people on board dead, likely hit power lines before it plummeted to the ground in Central Texas, the National Transportation Board said Sunday.
NTSB member Robert Sumwalt said it's not clear whether the fire that sparked on the aircraft ignited before or after the balloon hit the electrical wires near the town of Lockhart Saturday.
He said the balloon material was discovered about three-quarters of a mile from the basket, and all of the victims' bodies were found near the basket. The balloon had traveled about 8 miles from its starting point before falling to the pasture below, he said.

Sumwalt said earlier Sunday that investigators were looking at three things, as is often the case in aerial accidents: the human, the machine and the environment. He said it was cloudy at the time of takeoff, which was delayed about 20 minutes, but could not say if weather played a role in the crash.

Investigators have gathered 14 of the victims' recording devices — including cellphones, cameras and an iPad — in hopes of piecing together what doomed the balloon, Sumwalt said. He asked that any witnesses also turn over any videos or pictures they may have taken before the crash.                      

Gathering other evidence would be a sort of race against time he noted, since investigators were delayed by weather in getting to the site, and most physical evidence will be tarnished within days. "The wreckage will not be here more than another day or so," he said.
"We're looking at operation of balloon, pilot, and company that operated the balloon," Sumwalt said, identifying the operating company as Heart of Texas Hot Air Balloon Rides.
He said the pilot was certified to fly hot air balloons, and the NTSB would be looking at the company's inspection records.
Sumwalt said at least one other accident involving the type of balloon that went down Saturday has been recorded since 2011. In all, the NTSB has recorded 60 accidents — six of them fatal — since 2011.
Saturday's crash is the deadliest of its type in the U.S.                    

The Caldwell County Sheriff's said identifying the 16 victims would be "a long process," but the brother of a 34-year-old and his wife said they were on the balloon. Joshua Rowan told NBC News that his brother, Matt Rowan, 34, and his sister-in-law, Sunday Rowan were on the doomed flight and would be "incredibly missed."

Sunday and Matt Rowan, both 34, were killed in Saturday's balloon accident in Texas. Courtesy Joshua Rowan
The couple had been recently married, and Matt Rowan had just started a new job as an army hospital burns trial unit chief. "He was doing some amazing work and research. He felt like a lot of the stuff he was doing would have benefits for soldier and other service members who had been injured by burns," Joshua Rowan said.
The couple from San Antonio "was so happy together," Rowan said. "They were trying to a grow their family. It makes the timing of it even more horrific."
Matt Rowan sent a text message to a friend on his volleyball team Friday night saying he'd be late to a tournament because he was taking a hot air balloon ride that he didn't expect would interfere with the game because it had "been rescheduled a dozen times." Heart of Texas Hot Air Balloon Rides has a Better Business Bureau rating of D+ and a Yelp rating of 1.5 stars, mostly due to complaints about canceled and rescheduled flights.                     

The last text Rowan sent to his teammates was a picture from the air. They posted a picture of the team after the tournament, with a space saved for Rowan. 
 
Matt Rowan sent this photo from inside the balloon to a Facebook group at 7:29 a.m. CST. This is the last time the group heard from him. Matt Rowan

In April 2014, the NTSB recommended that the Federal Aviation Administration bolster ballooning regulations in the U.S., warning of "the potential for a high number of fatalities in a single air tour balloon accident."
The FAA at the time rejected the suggestions, saying ballooning risks were low.
Sumwalt on Sunday said the FAA's response was deemed by the NTSB to be "unacceptable."

Lynn Lunsford, a spokeswoman for the FAA, told NBC News on Sunday that it was "too early to say" whether the FAA would reconsider the NTSB recommendations "until we've had a chance to gather and examine the evidence in this particular case."
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/texas-hot-air-balloon-crash-least-16-confirmed-dead-names-n620501

So much

[Guest]

7 Drugs Found in System of Hot Air Balloon Pilot in Deadliest US Crash, NTSB Says
By Becky Perlow  Dec 9, 2016, 6:09 PM ET

The pilot of the deadliest hot air balloon crash in U.S. history had seven different drugs in his system at the time of the accident, according to documents released today by the National Transportation Safety Board.

In the early hours of July 30, Alfred “Skip” Nichols was piloting a hot air balloon near Lockhart, Texas, with 15 passengers on board, when the balloon ultimately crashed into a field after striking high-voltage power lines. All those on board, including Nichols, were killed in the accident and the balloon was substantially damaged after hitting the power lines and catching fire.

Nichols had a history of medical and psychiatric conditions, according to NTSB records, including diabetes and depression, and was being treated with several different medicines for with chronic back pain, attention deficit disorder and fibromyalgia, among his other medical ailments.

Three of those medicines that were found in his system -- diazepam (i.e. Valium), oxycodone (i.e. Oxycontin) and methylphenidate (i.e. Ritalin) -- are drugs that legally prevent a pilot from obtaining a medical certificate. Other medicines that were found -- cyclobenzaprine (a muscle relaxant) and diphenhydramine (i.e. Benadryl) -- are medicines that pilots are told not to fly while taking, as those drugs could impair the pilot and prevent the pilot from flying safely, according to NTSB documents.
Nichols also suffered from "major depressive disorder," according to Nichols' medical records obtained by the NTSB. And while Nichols was taking medication to treat this condition, one expert suggested that may not have been enough.
"Someone taking anti-depressants does not necessarily guarantee the anti-depressants are effective," Federal Aviation Administration Chief Psychiatrist Charles Chesanow testified today in Washington, D.C.
Currently, the FAA does not require hot air balloon pilots to hold a medical certificate, even though both fixed-wing and helicopter pilots do need this certificate.
And though Nichols may not have legally needed a medical certificate to fly, depression is a disqualifying condition for pilot medical certification.
The FAA may issue a “special issuance of a medical certificate,” which would allow those pilots suffering from depression to fly, but only if the pilot proved that after six months of treatment, the pilot was clinically stable on one of four FAA-approved medications.
In Nichols' case, bupropion (an anti-depressant) was found in his body at the time of the accident, and is not one of the four FAA-approved medications.
But would Nichols’ passengers have noticed anything wrong with their pilot? One expert suggested not.
“The drug levels are an important piece of the puzzle, but they aren’t the entire puzzle,” Chesanow said.
Nichols also had multiple arrests, convictions and incarcerations, which included five alcohol-related incidents, possession of drugs, and driving with a suspended driving license, according to FBI National Crime Information Center records and Missouri driving records, obtained by the NTSB.
Nichols never reported any of his drug convictions or motor vehicle violations, according to testimony presented to the NTSB today, despite the fact that it was mandatory to report any of these incidents to the FAA within 60 days of them occurring.
Even after discovering that Nichols failed to report alcohol-related motor incidents, the FAA ultimately dismissed legal enforcement action against the pilot, according to a July 29, 2013, letter sent by the federal agency to Nichols.
In an NTSB testimony today, the FAA said it decided not to pursue legal action against Nichols because of its “Stale Complaint Rule” and its inability to show “appropriate diligence.”
The "Stale Complaint Rule” is an FAA rule that says any complaint may generally be dismissed if the alleged offenses occurred more than six months before the time of the complaint, unless the FAA can show it took "appropriate diligence" in the case, according to testimony presented today at the NTSB hearing.
Additionally, the FAA's 2013 letter encouraged Nichols to document his alcohol incidents when applying for a future Airman Medical Certificate, despite the fact that the FAA does not require hot air balloon pilots to hold medical certificates.
FAA Federal Air Surgeon Dr. James Fraser explained at the NTSB hearing, though, that even if a pilot does not legally need a medical certificate, the pilot is still responsible from abstaining from flight if he is not fit to fly.
“Certainly if he could read the English language, he would know these medications would not be allowed,” Fraser testified before the NTSB.
When asked whether the FAA should require a medical certificate for balloon operators, Fraser suggested it may be time for a change in policy.
“I feel a medical evaluation is a part of the holistic plan to keep the national air space safe,” Fraser said.
Following the hearing, NTSB Board Member Robert Sumwalt admitted that while the balloon industry and the FAA may have resisted change in the past, there may also be a renewed interest in cooperation with safety regulations.
"Unfortunately, sometimes it takes blood to get change," Sumwalt said. "And we want to make sure there are changes made before there's more bloodshed."
http://abcnews.go.com/US/drugs-found-system-hot-air-balloon-pilot-deadliest/story?id=44093005

GOOD GRIEF - between the number of airline pilots caught trying to operate commercial airliners DRUNK &/or HIGH and now this horrid incident ...to find out that there weren't any real FAA regulations for this pilots 'medical needs' to be listed/over seen by any doctor/signed off on by any certification approval prior to his still being able to charter time for his balloon trips! 
SHOCKING, and now that there has been terrible collateral damage - now perhaps there will be change ???

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