Balloon Pilot Who Killed 16 in Texas on Drugs, Had Many DWIs

jbrinker

jbrinker

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https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...-killed-16-was-on-drugs-and-had-five-dwi-raps

Just posting a link to the update on this case.
I'm not one to call for additional FAA oversight - but wow, how do we as pilots feel about this? Seems like carrying passengers for hire, one ought to at least be held to some standard? I was not aware that commercial balloon pilots have this little oversight.

Short for those who don't want to read the article:

- Was on 13 different drugs, at least 7 of which were disqualifying (Diazapam, Oxycodone and others - found in his system)
- Suffered from Diabetes, Fibrolyalga, Depression
- Had at least 5 (FIVE) prior DWIs
- Launched into questionable weather, and was advised by briefer that it didnt look good.
And probably more...

(Trying to find a link to the actual report)
 
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These balloons are taking people out left and right!!!


Doesn't seem like a even somewhat common issue, let's hope this doesn't get enough press that the FAA feels they need to do "something" which we all know won't fix anything other than make more rules to make more rules so they can say they did "something".

Hopefully a Kardashian will flash someone or Justin beaver will get run over and the press will forget all about this idiot in the ballon.
 
That's crazy to not require medicals for commercial balloon ops


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Because people die. A fixed wing private pilot could lose his medical for a single dui, but this guy, taking drugs and with multiples gets to kill 14 people.


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Aaaaaand, you think that dude would have followed the rules??

Tell me more...
 
The FAA would have suspended his certificate. Shut the operation down.


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gsengle said:
The FAA would have suspended his certificate. Shut the operation down.


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Shut what operation down? It's a guy with a balloon? Short of physically removing the balloon from him, there was nothing to "shut down"
 
You don't think he was advertising to get 14 commercial passengers? Yes they could shut him down.


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gsengle said:
You don't think he was advertising to get 14 commercial passengers? Yes they could shut him down.


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I don't think you have any idea of how commercial lighter than air operations work. You don't need a charter certificate or anything like flying airplanes.
 
Yes I do and I don't think it should stay that way. That's my entire point.


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Not a balloon pilot; I'm familiar with that area & weather.

The mishap pilot launched his large balloon within 30 min drifting distance of very tall elec transmission lines on a hot July morning.

Basic balloon piloting skills or drug use the problem here?
 
He was high as a kite...
 
oilburner said:
Not a balloon pilot; I'm familiar with that area & weather.

The mishap pilot launched his large balloon within 30 min drifting distance of very tall elec transmission lines on a hot July morning.

Basic balloon piloting skills or drug use the problem here?
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I'll take drug use for $500!
 
Ok live in a mad max world, please don't take the rest of us down with ya.


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gsengle said:
Ok live in a mad max world, please don't take the rest of us down with ya.

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I could use the same logic to say that the next time anyone on the ground is killed by a non-professional pilot that all of said pilots should be banned from flying.
 
That's dumb. How about because someone fell down a stair once we should outlaw buildings. I bet most members of the public would be shocked to learn that a commercial balloon pilot isn't regulated just like an airplane pilot. I'm out this is silly.


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KSCessnaDriver said:
I could use the same logic to say that the next time anyone on the ground is killed by a non-professional pilot that all of said pilots should be banned from flying.
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No, the same logic would be to ban private pilots from flying PC-12s with 16 paying passengers on board.

Which was done a long time ago.

The straw men are flying around.....
 
MAKG1 said:
No, the same logic would be to ban private pilots from flying PC-12s with 16 paying passengers on board.

Which was done a long time ago.

The straw men are flying around.....
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Because we all know 134.5 operations are illegal and they never happen.....


You can't fix stupid, no amount of regulation fixes what happened here.
 
KSCessnaDriver said:
Because we all know 134.5 operations are illegal and they never happen.....
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But the FAA will take action if they find out about it. In fact, they will take away someone's 135 certificate if there are enough violations.

I'm not going along with the argument that just because people don't follow rules, there shouldn't be any.
 
Just because of one idiot now we all of a sudden need more rules and regulations and training and reviews?

This seems to be the go to answer every time there is a bad day in aviation. This is why prices are keeping people away from flying. If this kind of accident or behavior was as common as cirrus chute pulls then there might be some validity to make a case to take action but for one single event? Not a chance. If anything this should raise the issue that there are far too many friggin towers these days, lets regulate them instead.
 
Acrodustertoo said:
Just because of one idiot now we all of a sudden need more rules and regulations and training and reviews?

This seems to be the go to answer every time there is a bad day in aviation. This is why prices are keeping people away from flying. If this kind of accident or behavior was as common as cirrus chute pulls then there might be some validity to make a case to take action but for one single event? Not a chance. If anything this should raise the issue that there are far too many friggin towers these days, lets regulate them instead.
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It's not about aviation. It doesn't matter what industry. Whenever someone does something stupid and it makes the news, thus bringing attention to something that people have not been paying attention to, the government feels the need to respond and it is usually a knee-jerk reaction.
 
Fearless Tower said:
It's not about aviation. It doesn't matter what industry. Whenever someone does something stupid and it makes the news, thus bringing attention to something that people have not been paying attention to, the government feels the need to respond and it is usually a knee-jerk reaction.
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Very true
 
Even if they had all of the rules in place, this guy still launched when he knew the area was IFR. He made a bad decision that killed a lot of people. Now we know why his judgement may have been impaired. I think a lot of us expected this as his friends immediately came out and said he was a great guy who had recovered from a drug addiction. I live nearby and chose not to fly that day because of very low ceilings and it wasn't predicted to get better.

What I've noticed from local balloon pilots is extreme pressure. If you look at his reviews, people complained a lot about him canceling multiple times. Even passengers on this flight were saying they were going up, if he didn't cancel again. They were laughing and saying odds were they wouldn't get their flight. People don't understand how low of winds balloons need to operate, much less ceilings. All they know is he's canceling and they're not getting their ride. Not excusing him in any way, but it's got to be a tough business to run with bad reviews being so visible.

We had another balloon accident many years ago in the San Antonio area. The pilot was named Steve Sprague and his hit power lines. One of his passengers got 3rd degree burns. He ran to the nearest road where people were stopping to help and told them not to call for help, that everyone was okay. The passenger sued and won, but he disappeared. He eventually turned up in Hawaii, but unfortunately he was giving rides to people in trikes and pulled the wing off doing a hammerhead and kill himself and his passenger who's wife had bought him the ride for his birthday.
 
Hey guys just smoked some good kush you guys wanna hit up this balloon with me? Never flown one before but we should be good.
 
How is flying 16 paying pax in a balloon any different than fixed wing 135? There really should be at least some oversight. Not saying you should have to take a .299 and go to the sim every 6 months to drive a balloon, but to not even need a medical is just crazy.
 
Everskyward said:
I'm not going along with the argument that just because people don't follow rules, there shouldn't be any.
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That's never BEEN the argument. The argument is that they're not effective and annoy the majority who aren't stupid.

Make rules all day, doesn't stop anything.
 
denverpilot said:
That's never BEEN the argument. The argument is that they're not effective and annoy the majority who aren't stupid.

Make rules all day, doesn't stop anything.
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But making rules sets limits for what is considered acceptable, and those that violate them do so at the risk of being caught.
 
gsengle said:
That's dumb. How about because someone fell down a stair once we should outlaw buildings. I bet most members of the public would be shocked to learn that a commercial balloon pilot isn't regulated just like an airplane pilot. I'm out this is silly.


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How much regulation would you tolerate to save 16 people every 20 years? How many new personnel should the FAA hire to implement those regulations? Remember it has to be 100% effective, otherwise you might only save 9 or 10.
 
Everskyward said:
But making rules sets limits for what is considered acceptable, and those that violate them do so at the risk of being caught.
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The people who need "caught" do not care at all about your limits. Not in the slightest.

You know this. You've met some at some time in your life, I'm sure.
 
You guys sure argue about stupid things. If you believe it doesn't matter the balloon pilot shoulda been a school bus driver for your kids. Don't worry. There're more where he came from.
 
denverpilot said:
That's never BEEN the argument. The argument is that they're not effective and annoy the majority who aren't stupid.

Make rules all day, doesn't stop anything.
Click to expand...
Not entirely.

There are two issues here. One is that no matter how much you regulate, there will always be some azzclown who just doesn't get it or care. You can't expect to regulate anything to 100% compliance.

But that doesn't automatically mean that there is no point to regulation in the first place. Regulation can make a difference. The key is doing a proper cost-benefit analysis.

While you will never end killing people by outlawing murder, I'm pretty sure there would be a hell of a lot more murders if it was legal.
 
Stewartb said:
You guys sure argue about stupid things. If you believe it doesn't matter the balloon pilot shoulda been a school bus driver for your kids. Don't worry. There're more where he came from.
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You think there aren't high/drunk school bus drivers? LOL. Good luck with that. Every industry has addicts. Every industry.

Come hang out in our call center some day and peek at the occupations that are being tested.

Every call to our office is a failed drug/substance test. We have a busy call center, fully staffed, and growing every year that I've been working on their infrastructure.

The "rules" keep us busy and in business but don't really make the numbers better year over year. Like I said, we are growing. More addicts, more calls, more money.

Pays for some percentage of my bills. I can't complain. Take all the drugs you like... I'll upgrade the phone system. Thank goodness for rules.

A solid profitable business with no end in sight, letting folks know what they already knew: They put things they shouldn't have, incompatible with their chosen professions, down their pie holes.

I'm not heartless but I am a realist. If y'all figure out a way to put our call center out of business the world would be a better place, but I know it won't happen. Won't matter how many rules "society" writes.
 
Bad cases make for bad law.

Unfortunately, that is generally how our system operates.

It would seem that we all agree this guy should not have been flying, according to the rules that are already in place - rules that the operator should have already known.

That being the case, how would a new rule have changed this event?
 
If he had been required to get a medical the DWIs probably would have been caught if his name had been run through the NDR. It's also possible he would have tested positive for sugar in his urine.

Not saying that commercial balloon pilots should be getting medicals, but they are holding out to the public...
 
Why is it every other balloon pilots problem now? One clown made a really bad mistake, but that doesn't mean that every other like person in the country needs to vet themselves. It seems that every time one person screws the pooch, a massive overreach is called for. when was the last time a heavy drug user crashed a balloon with a dozen people in it?
 
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