Originally Posted by
aterpster
Had the FAA respected the NTSB recommendations this horrific event may not have happened, on a number of levels, not the least of which are PIC requirements.
From the AP link I posted above, it seems to be continuously updated:
LOCKHART, Texas (AP) -- The pilot of a hot air balloon that crashed in Texas, killing 16 people, was able to keep flying despite having at least four convictions for drunken driving in Missouri and twice spending time in prison.
...When pilots apply for a ballooning certificate with the FAA, they are not required to disclose any prior drunken-driving convictions, only drug convictions, said Patrick Cannon, a spokesman for the Balloon Federation of America trade group, who called that a loophole in the law. He noted that the ballooning certificate specifically says not to include alcohol offenses involving a motor vehicle, as those are covered on the FAA's medical application.
However, unlike other pilots, balloon pilots do not have to get regular medical exams from FAA-certified examiners. They are only required to write a statement certifying that they have "no medical defect" that would limit their ability to pilot a balloon.
Whether the pilot's drinking habits had anything to do with the crash was unclear. A former girlfriend described Alfred "Skip" Nichols as a recovering alcoholic. She said he had been sober for at least four years and never piloted a balloon after drinking.
Nichols, who had been stripped of his driver's license at least twice, "couldn't drive a car but he could pilot a hot air balloon," said an attorney who represented a passenger who sued Nichols in 2013. The passenger said she was hurt when Nichols crash-landed a balloon in the St. Louis suburbs.
As part of the case, Patton said he learned from the Missouri Department of Revenue that Nichols' driver's license had been suspended for 10 years due to the 2002 drunken-driving conviction. In a 2013 deposition, Nichols said he received a second 10-year license suspension in Missouri in 2010.
His first drunken-driving conviction came in St. Louis County in 1990, followed by two more convictions in 2002 and a fourth in 2010, according to online court records.
He was also convicted of a drug crime in 2000 and spent about a year and a half in prison before being paroled. He was returned to prison in April 2010 after his parole was revoked because of his drunken-driving conviction that year. He was paroled again in January 2012.
...A member of the National Transportation Safety Board, Robert Sumwalt, criticized what he called a "disparity" in the FAA requirements for balloon operators compared to plane or helicopter pilots.