Balloon fire/crash

I didn't realize they could hold up to 16 people!
 
Wow, sad day. I'm guessing there would have been some kids on board. What a terrible way to go.
 
Very sad.

I have zero experience with ballons so I didn't know they could carry that many either. Guessing many kids on there. Tragic.
 
Horrible. It does seem like July has had an over abundance of accidents.
 
Terrible tragedy ,may they rest in peace.
 
Terrible. Basket ended up under some high voltage power line towers.
 
Eerily similar to the Colorado balloon that was severed after getting caught up in power lines in 1993. Full NTSB team deployed to the Texas site because of "significant loss of life". Terrible way to go.
 
I got real nervous when I saw this thread because I have some friends that posted FB pics for a big balloon festival held in jersey. not that that makes this any less nasty.
 
Hope it doesn't result in a bunch of pointless new rules for that branch of aviators.
 
Photo on Drudge ... Deleted

They'll investigate thoroughly.

Until then, I feel sick. It's got to be a helpless situation.
 
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Friggin' horrible. :(
 
tinerj said:
The photo on Drudge shows the basket fully engulfed and black smoke. Much higher than any power lines.

They'll investigate thoroughly.

Until then, I feel sick. It's got to be a helpless situation.
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There are pics and a video circulating around that are clearly NOT from this accident.
 
Yeal, I deleted part of the post when I realized the pic I referenced didn't match eye-witness accounts.
 
More to the story as always. Not judging here, just posting more info.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/texas-hot-air-balloon-crash-051107669.html?nhp=1

A Missouri police officer said Nichols was arrested in 2000 on a felony driving while intoxicated charge and pleaded guilty to misdemeanor DWI in 2002.

The officer said that based on photographs he is confident the man arrested then is the same man who piloted the Texas balloon. Nichols was known as "Skip" in both places and owned a hot air balloon touring company in St. Louis County at the time, said the officer, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition that he not be identified because he was not authorized to comment publicly.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported in 2008 that the Better Business Bureau had warned consumers about doing business with Nichols, the third time since 2000 that Nichols had gotten an unsatisfactory record for not responding to complaints. The paper quoted the BBB as saying Nichols was on probation in Missouri for distribution, delivery or manufacturing a controlled substance and that when asked to respond, Nichols said, "I prefer to make no comment on that."
 
Of course I'm speculating like everyone else does, but I will say the evidence is pointing one way. I live in the Austin area and was going to fly over to San Marcos that morning. A quick check of AeroWeather showed me it was IFR there and in between at the same time he was flying. The NTSB is already leaning toward saying he hit the very large power lines.

I heard he had bad reviews on Yelp. I also saw a FB post from one of the guys telling some of his friends he might be late because he was going on a balloon ride, but he doubted it because they keep rescheduling. I went to Yelp to read the reviews and most of them were mad because of the schedule changes. This is part of ballooning. They fly when there is very little wind and you can plan a flight many weekends in a row and have to cancel. Maybe he should have cancelled on them once again... they would have been mad, but alive.
 
Drive by reports indicate the witness thought the balloon may have been overweight and struggling to climb - the photos give the impression the basket contacted the power lines as the rest of the balloon was found intact 8 miles away. I'm not sure how controllable those airships are, seems like you are at the mercy of the elements and can only control altitude. I'm sure weight will be looked at but if there is no actual passenger list for that day it may be tough to confirm.
 
On TV it showed how foggy it was when they took off, very bad vis. They probably were overloaded and could not rise as they approached the high tension wires. The basket fell right under or beside the wires on fire. Sounds like the FAA should step in. In my 45 years of flying I never had any problem with the FAA, infact they were very helpful on several occasions.
 
Jimmy cooper said:
On TV it showed how foggy it was when they took off, very bad vis. They probably were overloaded and could not rise as they approached the high tension wires. The basket fell right under or beside the wires on fire. Sounds like the FAA should step in. In my 45 years of flying I never had any problem with the FAA, infact they were very helpful on several occasions.
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Sadly, I wonder if he was under pressure or self induced pressure to complete the trip due to prior cancellations
 
Mopauly said:
Sadly, I wonder if he was under pressure or self induced pressure to complete the trip due to prior cancellations
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Similar to getthereitis for us, I can imagine there's a level of financial pressure when you have 16 people paying likely hundreds of dollars each to go for a ride. Obviously we have no idea what the facts are in this case, but it will be really sad if they launched into marginal conditions or above gross weight and it led to the crash.
 
tuwood said:
Similar to getthereitis for us, I can imagine there's a level of financial pressure when you have 16 people paying likely hundreds of dollars each to go for a ride. Obviously we have no idea what the facts are in this case, but it will be really sad if they launched into marginal conditions or above gross weight and it led to the crash.
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Although we don't know right now what happened, I can see the pressure to launch with 15 passengers paying for a ride, especially if they had been delayed for a while that morning. Sadly, pressure causes accidents or at least contributes to them. 15 plus a pilot seem like a lot of weight for any normal hot air balloon, it must have been a big one. Sad for all involved.
 
N747JB said:
Although we don't know right now what happened, I can see the pressure to launch with 15 passengers paying for a ride, especially if they had been delayed for a while that morning. Sadly, pressure causes accidents or at least contributes to them. 15 plus a pilot seem like a lot of weight for any normal hot air balloon, it must have been a big one. Sad for all involved.
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All things considered, a 16 passenger balloon isn't really that big. I've seen some in places up to 30 passengers. You just have to have a really, really big envelope.
 
tuwood said:
Similar to getthereitis for us, I can imagine there's a level of financial pressure when you have 16 people paying likely hundreds of dollars each to go for a ride. Obviously we have no idea what the facts are in this case, but it will be really sad if they launched into marginal conditions or above gross weight and it led to the crash.
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I've done this before on animal rescue flights; I spend over $10,000 a year out of pocket to save animals, and have pushed the limit a few times; I've walked away from those times won't do it again. The worst was a flight that had landing gear failure and unreported weather issues - you question yourself as to exactly WTF you are doing when you push that hard.

I've had a rescue flight planned since Sunday that can't get done due to weather, but you know what? the dogs will gladly wait until later in this week when things improve, and I'll be able to fly another day. Not saying it was the cause, but at the end of the day you have to step back and really look at the big picture.
 
It was a big balloon and basket. Here's a photo from their FB page showing a previous flight. The pilot that crashed is in this photo, black shirt with his hand near the burner.
13559030_10206479993303394_5756675470165856192_o.jpg
 
Jimmy cooper said:
On TV it showed how foggy it was when they took off, very bad vis. They probably were overloaded and could not rise as they approached the high tension wires. The basket fell right under or beside the wires on fire. Sounds like the FAA should step in. In my 45 years of flying I never had any problem with the FAA, infact they were very helpful on several occasions.
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If he had drug and alcohol convictions, isn't that pretty much closing the barn door after the horses are out?

Edit: After reading in the other thread that the press piece on his former problems was from a long time ago and he was supposedly sober for four years, I'll just add that here for posterity and let folks think about it.
 
tuwood said:
I'm kind of glad the medical reform was passed prior to this accident.
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How would that have anything to do with this accident since balloon pilots have never been required to have a medical cert to act as PIC?
 
PPC1052 said:
His point is that people might look at this and say, "See look what happens when we don't require a medical!"
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Exactly. Remember, our politicians don't act on reason and rational thinking. They react on emotion and public outcry. There will be wave after wave of "we must make laws to ever prevent something like this from happening again" requests. If the medical reform were still in limbo it would be very challenging to get passed with a public headwind like this.
 
denverpilot said:
If he had drug and alcohol convictions, isn't that pretty much closing the barn door after the horses are out?

Edit: After reading in the other thread that the press piece on his former problems was from a long time ago and he was supposedly sober for four years, I'll just add that here for posterity and let folks think about it.
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Obviously time for the FAA to step in and stipulate basic requirements that would preclude people like this nut case to operate. He was an accident waiting to happen. Not a whole lot of " deep thinking" necessary .
 
Jimmy cooper said:
Obviously time for the FAA to step in and stipulate basic requirements that would preclude people like this nut case to operate. He was an accident waiting to happen. Not a whole lot of " deep thinking" necessary .
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So you have evidence of this? What specific requirements would you like? How would they compare to a Commerical fixed wing or rotary wing certificate's requirements?
 
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