No apparent survivors in Texas balloon crash, officials say
A fiery hot air balloon crash killed 16 people in Central Texas
on Saturday, making it one of the deadliest hot air balloon crashes in
U.S. history.
The balloon had been gliding along a portion of
Caldwell County near Jolly Road, about two miles west of Lockhart, when
witnesses said it appeared to strike high-voltage power lines and catch
fire. There were no survivors.
It was the worst accident involving a hot air balloon since a 2013 balloon crash in Egypt killed 19.
A
woman who lived near the site of the crash described hearing popping
noises before spotting a large fireball that she at first thought might
have been a tractor exploding.
The
resident, Margaret Wylie, said she was in her home when she heard the
noise. While outside, she heard a second pop and then turned toward the
sound to see a fireball erupt from a hay field.
“About the time I looked over, there was when a whooshing sound happened and the fireball went up,” she said.
It was about 7:44 a.m. when Caldwell County emergency responders first received the report after Wylie called 911.
The
National Transportation Safety Board is leading the investigation, and
many technical experts from Washington were still en route to Texas late
Saturday. The FBI is also assisting the safety board in collecting
evidence from the scene.
Just minutes before the crash, a husband and wife traveling on the
Texas 130 toll road spotted the balloon, which was piloted by Heart of
Texas Hot Air Balloon Rides owner Alfred “Skip” Nichols. Joe Gonzales
told the Austin American-Statesman that, even from his vantage point
speeding by, he was concerned that the low-flying balloon had too many
people aboard.
“I’d never seen one like that with that many people,” Gonzales said. “It just didn’t look right.”
His wife, Erika Gonzales, snapped a photo of the red, white and blue balloon with a smiley face as they passed.
Nichols was most recently certified to fly hot air balloons
by the Federal Aviation Administration in July 2014, according the
agency’s database of pilots.
The website for Heart of Texas Hot Air Balloon Rides states that it has balloons capable of carrying 24 people.
None of the people killed had been formally identified Saturday evening.
Safety
board senior advisor Erik Grosof said the investigation was in a
“stake-down” phase, meaning that staff members were working mainly to
secure the crash site and gain control of the wreckage.
The
investigation would begin “full bore” once the team of experts arrives,
Grosof said, and it will be led by NTSB investigator Bill English. For
now, investigators are treating the crash area much like a crime scene,
he said.
“This will be a difficult site for us to work through,” Grosof said.
Bruce
Lavorgna, spokesman for the Central Texas Ballooning Assn. who has been
flying balloons for 26 years, said power lines are the most common
cause of balloon crashes.
“They’re very difficult to see from the
air,” Lavorgna said. He asks his passengers to tell him if they see any
lines, because they’re easy to overlook.
Troy Bradley, a hot air
balloon pilot in New Mexico, said it’s unlikely that the balloon could
have caught fire by itself; rather, he guessed that the balloon basket
struck power lines, which perhaps ignited fuel.
High-voltage power lines are very near the scene of Saturday’s crash.
The
area between Austin and San Antonio is a common place to fly balloons,
Bradley said. Lavorgna said a 16-person balloon would be larger than
what he usually sees. He said big balloons are more common near
Albuquerque, N.M., where there’s more open space and a great deal of
balloon traffic.
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UPDATES:
6:35 p.m.: This article was updated with more information about the investigation.
3:20 p.m.:
This article was updated with more information about the crash
investigation and a statement indicating there didn’t appear to be any
survivors.
11:48 a.m.: This article was updated with additional details about the crash, as well as comments from eyewitnesses and authorities.
10:30 a.m. This article was updated with a description of the crash site and statement from the governor.
This article was originally pub
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