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Texas Hot Air Balloon Crash

Officials believe no survivors in Texas balloon crash

Quote:

LOCKHART, Texas (AP) — No one appeared to survive a hot air balloon crash in Central Texas, authorities said Saturday.

At least 16 people were on board the balloon, which Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Lynn Lunsford said caught fire before crashing into a pasture shortly after 7:40 a.m. Saturday near Lockhart.

Witnesses say that the crash debris is under high-tension power lines.

Edit: incorrect link deleted.

God bless them.

Mickjoebill

A still shot minutes before the crash in this article:

Lockhart hot air balloon crash: Texas DPS confirms 16 dead | www.statesman.com

I believe the crash site is near the center of this Google Maps view, just north of the powerlines and the bend in Jolly Road, on the east side of the road:

https://goo.gl/maps/ophwKWCco7H2

You can compare any claimed videos with the photos in this newspaper album:

Photos: Fatal hot air balloon crash near Lockhart, Texas | www.statesman.com

Thanks Airbubba, very informative links. Tragic.

In the footage i had seen online (now deleted?) it showed the balloon very high up and along way away from power lines, the basket was on fire and the balloon deflated bringing the basket crashing to the ground! poor souls.

FAA rejected NTSB recommendations two years ago about hot air ballooning. Los Angeles Times, Sunday, July 31, 2016:

NTSB now saying the balloon hit the power lines. "A power line was tripped at 7:42 a.m. Saturday, and the first call to 911 came a minute later." The sheriff reports there was fog after the crash. The balloon material was reportedly found 3/4 mile from the basket.

Some more details from the latest NTSB briefing in this AP article:

NTSB - Balloon Hit Power Lines

Texas Balloon Impact With HV Trans Lines

Based on the reported departure and crash locations and times, and KHYI METAR average surface winds and 3000’ winds aloft data over the total flight time, the crash site is around 8 SM from KHYI, the balloon traversed an approximate avg. course of 5 Deg.True, with the crash location around 29.8852, -97.7619.

The HV transmission lines noted by newspaper photographs appear that they could be 500-765 KV lines. Assuming the balloon was descending and the basket (or balloon) was nearing the noted HV power lines, the pilot may have been applying maximum burner heat input. But due to the total passenger and pilot weight (est. 3,200 lbs) plus the weight of basket, burners, etc. it was difficult to apply adequate heat input rate to change the lift rate adequately and therefore climb fast enough, and the basket contacted the power lines.

This very high voltage transmission line conductor(s) contact likely generated a phase to phase fault and therefore an enormous arc flash and initial fire. At transmission line voltages this high the arc flashcore can be 20,000-30,000 Deg. C. A conductive path to the propane/burner system could have generated temperatures high enough to melt propane tubing connectors, and therefore uncontrolled release of propane could have then also generated catastrophic fire escalation.

This crash appears tobe eerily similar to the Carleton, New Zealand January 2012 balloon crash inwhich 11 people lost their lives. That balloon incident as well contacted HV lines, but in that case 33 KV power lines. My thoughts and prayers to the loved ones of those who lost their lives.

I'm confused, read too many reports and can't go back to find the truth.

One thread is that the balloon hit the power lines and crashed as a result

Another says that the gondola caught fire, then the balloon caught fire and it crashed into the power lines,

What really happened ?

Can we compare with the Luxor accident.

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I'll let the investigators dig into those details and take it from there.

There goes the point of PPRuNe then.:rolleyes:
Best get back to posting METARs and discussing flight sim tactics.:E

It is a sad accident. May their souls RIP.

Carrying 16 passengers is common for sightseeing balloon rides.

Everyone should try at least once, it is a unique flight experience compared to any other mode of air transport. (I haven't tried the glider yet)

N4961D was a Kubicek BB85Z balloon, 302,600 cu./ft., 87 ft. diameter, 6317 lbs. max gross weight. Depending upon the basket model, maximum passengers can be from 18 to 26. There is a larger model that is FAA approved for 34 passengers.

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Is the FAA approval contingent on the spec for the lifting device or can that be changed as one desires?

On 31st Jul 2016, 19:04 thelad wrote:

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What you saw probably was footage from the tragic May 2014 balloon fire-crash in Virginia that also involved contact with power line(s).

After any high profile event, such as what happened in Texas, a lot of [expletives] post bogus footage on line, to lure people to their page (or YouTube page), for profit or other reasons.

Same with the still picture that was posted online, including by some supposedly reputable media sites, showing a burning balloon soaring into the sky. I believe it also was from the Virginia accident. Definitely was not from this recent Texas event.

(NOTE: Not suggesting anyone here deliberately posted something misleading - they just got suckered. Same with the link to footage that actually was from the "Indio" incident, and has since been removed.)

One size envelope can have two or three different size baskets under the FAA TCDS approvals.

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.

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Originally Posted by aterpster (Post 9458811)

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:

Quote:

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.