Evidence shows some part of the hot air balloon made contact with high-tension power lines before crashing into a Central Texas pasture, killing all 16 on board, according to federal authorities who are investigating the worst such disaster in U.S. history.
A power line was tripped at 7:42 a.m. Saturday, and the first call to 911 came a minute later, Robert Sumwalt with the National Transportation Safety Board said during a news conference. The crash site was near a row of high-tension power lines, and aerial photos showed an area of scorched land underneath. One witness described to the Associated Press seeing a “fireball” near the power lines.
He also said that the Caldwell County Sheriff had told him it was foggy after the accident, which happened about 30 miles south of Austin, but that it’s unclear what the weather was like during the flight itself.
The pilot was Skip Nichols, 49, said Alan Lirette, who identified Nichols as his best friend, roommate and boss. Lirette said he helped launch the balloon, which was carrying a total of 16 people, none of them children. The NTSB has not yet identified the pilot or the passengers.
The NTSB said the balloon was run by Heart of Texas Hot Air Balloon Rides. Nichols’s Facebook page identifies himself as the chief pilot at Heart of Texas, which does not appear to be registered with the state of Texas.
The passengers, who have not been identified, met the balloon operator in the San Marcos Wal-Mart parking lot at about 5:45 a.m. Saturday, and traveled to Fentress Texas Airpark. Ground crew members told the NTSB that they launched about 20 minutes after the expected 6:45 a.m. time. Sumwalt said the ground crew communicated with the balloon by cell phone, and the pilot navigated with an iPad.
It traveled about 8 miles from takeoff to crash, and the basket was found about three-quarters of a mile from the balloon material itself.
In a statement, Caldwell County Sheriff Daniel Law and the Texas Department of Public Safety confirmed the number of dead at 16, adding that the NTSB and medical professionals have said identification of the victims will be “a long process.”
An online Federal Aviation Administration database said an Alfred Nichols of Chesterfield, Mo., was medically certified to fly in 1996 and was rated a commercial pilot of lighter-than-air balloons on July 14, 2010. The rating is limited to hot air balloons with an airborne heater. Missouri records also listed Nichols as the owner of Air Balloon Sports LLC, based from the same Chesterfield address as the FAA record.
Lirette said Nichols went by the first name of Skip.
Speaking to the AP from a house he shared with Nichols in Kyle, Lirette would not answer specific questions about the balloon’s launch or its crash.