TX: Lockhart hot air balloon with 16 on board burns and crashes - no survivors

[WTR]

The FAA needs to be sued for granting this guy a license.

Too soon to make a judgement call on this. The pilot's prior history may have nothing to do with this accident. Let's let it play out.

Bull.....anyone who has had 4 DUIs., one previous crash*(ran out of fuel), shows he has a total lack of judgement and has previously put others lives at stake. With his second DUI he showed a total lack of respect for anyone else s well being and should never seen the light of day. I have no sympathy for an alcoholic who puts innocent lives at risk repeatedly. He also should have self reported his previous infractions which he did not do, so he lied to enrich himself......scum.

[Glockster]

http://www.click2houston.com/news/hot-a ... adly-crash

Pilot had a history of close calls and prison.

Came to Texas to start over.

RIP poor folks, you probably had no idea a man who would be barred from getting a pilots license was flying you.

One of those close calls, according to that article, totaled a car and: "The FAA does not appear to have any record of that incident, but Channel 2 Investigates obtained video of it. Such accidents require pilots to report them to the federal government."

[EastTexasRancher]

Keith, I read the balloon was found detached away from the basket with the vent open. Would that indicate he might have landed into the lines?

[philip964]

So I am assuming if you fly balloons for tourists, you tend to do the same route every time. Start in the same spot every time. Attempt to land in the same general area each time.

Your typical route has one important hazard. Big power lines. Wouldn't you know about it. Wouldn't it be the one big thing you made sure you cleared. Wouldn't you have your iphone out with google maps running and know exactly where it was if visibility turned bad.

I know hindsight is 20/20.

[ELB]

So I am assuming if you fly balloons for tourists, you tend to do the same route every time. Start in the same spot every time. Attempt to land in the same general area each time.

Your typical route has one important hazard. Big power lines. Wouldn't you know about it. Wouldn't it be the one big thing you made sure you cleared. Wouldn't you have your iphone out with google maps running and know exactly where it was if visibility turned bad.

I know hindsight is 20/20.

Not necessarily. I know this particular company changed its starting points based on the weather (and possibly other factors). My wife and I were twice scheduled to go and twice weathered out -- the take-off points were different. They had several take-off locations around San Marcos, New Braunfels, etc.

That doesn't mean they shouldn't be aware of hazards associated with each of them. However, I imagine trying to fly a balloon while looking at yoru iPhone for google maps (assuming there is even cell phone coverage) is probably as dangerous as doing it while driving a car.

I think we will have to wait for the NTSB report to find out if any of this, or the pilot's personal history was a factor. We'll see how it goes -- the NTSB seems to have an ax to grind with the FAA about ballooning.

[Keith B]

The FAA needs to be sued for granting this guy a license.

Too soon to make a judgement call on this. The pilot's prior history may have nothing to do with this accident. Let's let it play out.

Bull.....anyone who has had 4 DUIs., one previous crash*(ran out of fuel), shows he has a total lack of judgement and has previously put others lives at stake. With his second DUI he showed a total lack of respect for anyone else s well being and should never seen the light of day. I have no sympathy for an alcoholic who puts innocent lives at risk repeatedly. He also should have self reported his previous infractions which he did not do, so he lied to enrich himself......scum.

A little judgmental yourself aren't you? Past history is not necessarily an indication of future events. Let's see what the NTSB says in their investigation before we jump to any conclusions.

As for his previous 'crash', I personally have run extremely low on fuel while flying by becoming 'becalmed' when winds died out. Unless you are an LTA pilot, you do not know what it takes to fly one, and the issues that can arise even when proper pilot decision making is used.

So, again, until toxicology and other investigation results are provided, I would suggest backing away from speculation on past being part of this incident.

[Keith B]

Keith, I read the balloon was found detached away from the basket with the vent open. Would that indicate he might have landed into the lines?

What it possibly indicates is that when the balloon struck the power line, the electrical arc severed the basket from the balloon above. As for the vent being open, that could be from varying things, maybe just the loss of air in the envelope, the way the envelope deflated by natural cooling, etc.

My gut says that when the visibility dropped, he tried to get low enough to land and may have been trying to make an approach in the field, not seeing the tall power lines until it was too late. He may have tried pulling the vent to force the balloon to the ground, but it takes 7-10 seconds for the balloon to even start to react, so by the time he realized what was ahead of him in the low visibiity, there was no time for the balloon to drop quick enough to avoid contact with the power line.

Unfortunately, we will never know what was in his head and what decisions he made during that time, and will only be able to put the puzzle pieces together to try and make a educated guess at the cause.

[Keith B]

So I am assuming if you fly balloons for tourists, you tend to do the same route every time. Start in the same spot every time. Attempt to land in the same general area each time.

Your typical route has one important hazard. Big power lines. Wouldn't you know about it. Wouldn't it be the one big thing you made sure you cleared. Wouldn't you have your iphone out with google maps running and know exactly where it was if visibility turned bad.

I know hindsight is 20/20.

Not necessarily. I know this particular company changed its starting points based on the weather (and possibly other factors). My wife and I were twice scheduled to go and twice weathered out -- the take-off points were different. They had several take-off locations around San Marcos, New Braunfels, etc.

That doesn't mean they shouldn't be aware of hazards associated with each of them. However, I imagine trying to fly a balloon while looking at yoru iPhone for google maps (assuming there is even cell phone coverage) is probably as dangerous as doing it while driving a car.

I think we will have to wait for the NTSB report to find out if any of this, or the pilot's personal history was a factor. We'll see how it goes -- the NTSB seems to have an ax to grind with the FAA about ballooning.

In ballooning, you use the wind direction to determine your launch spot to help estimate a 'track' cone of possible landing sites. While he may have flown that same path or track before, low visibility can cause you to lose some of your bearings on exactly where you are due to loss of seeing known landmarks. He may have been trying to sit down in a field that appeared open, then suddenly was into the power lines.

I am not defending this pilot. While I know most of the active pilots around Texas, I personally didn't know this one. He may have made some poor choices in his decision to fly that morning based on what information he did or did not obtain from Flight Service or other sources, but until all of the investigation is concluded, we will not know what he did/said prior to launch. Much of that will come from interviews with crew and others he spoke with prior to the flight that morning.

[dlh]

You will never get me in a hot air balloon-neither will I sky-dive with our without a parachute. A guy actually sky-dived without a parachute the other day and hurdled into a net on the ground. I will not even ride roller-coasters. Guess I am just getting to be an old grumpy geezer.

Acceptable risks for me are shooting my firearms down-range at various paper and metal targets. Never been injured and the risk is small. Power lines? Yeah, don't shoot towards power lines.

To each his own I guess.

[Keith B]

Keith, I read the balloon was found detached away from the basket with the vent open. Would that indicate he might have landed into the lines?

What it possibly indicates is that when the balloon struck the power line, the electrical arc severed the basket from the balloon above. As for the vent being open, that could be from varying things, maybe just the loss of air in the envelope, the way the envelope deflated by natural cooling, etc.

My gut says that when the visibility dropped, he tried to get low enough to land and may have been trying to make an approach in the field, not seeing the tall power lines until it was too late. He may have tried pulling the vent to force the balloon to the ground, but it takes 7-10 seconds for the balloon to even start to react, so by the time he realized what was ahead of him in the low visibiity, there was no time for the balloon to drop quick enough to avoid contact with the power line.

Unfortunately, we will never know what was in his head and what decisions he made during that time, and will only be able to put the puzzle pieces together to try and make a educated guess at the cause.

One additional thought. The brand balloon he was flying has available what is called a 'Smart Vent' fast deflation system. If his balloon was equipped with that system, which it probably was, then the vent pulls into a completely open position and stays there unless pulled back into place manually.

So, if that was the case, then it would indicate he had tried to open the port and 'rip out' to quickly descend. As pilots, we are taught to 'rip out' if we are heading toward power lines so that hopefully any contact with the line will occur above the basket in the envelope portion of the balloon. While still not optimal, it is better than contact with passengers/fuel tanks. As for where this balloon contacted the power line, it would appear that it was right above the basket and it severed the suspension cables holding the balloon and basket together, so if the vent was open, it apparently didn't descend fast enough to get down lower and avoid the basket area contact.

[WTR]

Past history is not necessarily an indication of future events.

But it is the best indication. Pilot of a hot air balloon? More like operator.

[Keith B]

Past history is not necessarily an indication of future events.

But it is the best indication. Pilot of a hot air balloon? More like operator.

I can't answer for his decision to fly in this case, However, here is an article that probably gives a pretty good first-hand view of what caused the accident. Ceiling and visibility dropped rapidly. http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-tex ... story.html

I was not there and don't know what they were seeing as the flight progressed, so don't know what decision I would have made to fly or not. Sounds like a case of scud-running. That has killed more pilots over the years than you can shake a stick at.

[Pawpaw]

Experts: Texas balloon pilot was on 10 different medications

[Keith B]

Experts: Texas balloon pilot was on 10 different medications

I watched a big portion of the NTSB hearing. This guy was an accident waiting to happen. This accident it tragic and gives good pilots a black eye. Unfortunately, even having to have a medical probably would not have stopped this event from happening. There have been plenty of crashes in aviation where the pilot didn't have a valid medical or even an active license. Some people just make really bad decisions and this guy had a history of a long string of them.

[Charles L. Cotton]

Experts: Texas balloon pilot was on 10 different medications

I watched a big portion of the NTSB hearing. This guy was an accident waiting to happen. This accident it tragic and gives good pilots a black eye. Unfortunately, even having to have a medical probably would not have stopped this event from happening. There have been plenty of crashes in aviation where the pilot didn't have a valid medical or even an active license. Some people just make really bad decisions and this guy had a history of a long string of them.

This guy was just a bad actor and it's a shame that so many people died as a result. I didn't watch the NTSB hearing, but I saw some excerpts on the news. The daughter of a women who died in the crash was calling for more oversight, medicals (not sure about the frequency) and other measures. I realize that, when tragedy strikes, it's natural to want to fix something. Unfortunately, you can't fix or legislate against stupid and some folks just can't accept that fact. That's how windmill jousting began.

Medical-related accidents in aviation are extremely rare and that's why the AOPA fought for years to change the rules for private pilots. They don't need an Airman's Medical, with some limitations. Some of the medical tests are also absurd. A buddy failed his medical because there was a trace of protein in his urine. While that can be a sign of pending kidney failure, a "trace" is hardly diagnostic and grossly premature to ground a pilot. Someone told him to retake it later in the morning after drinking at least 16 oz. of water. He did and there was no protein found. If he had been experiencing kidney failure, some protein would have spilled even after the water. /soapbox

Chas.