Hot air balloon carrying at least 16 people crashes in Texas

[Renae]

[FONT=&quot]LOCKHART, Texas – [/FONT]DEVELOPING[FONT=&quot]-- Federal officials say a hot air balloon carrying at least 16 people caught on fire and crashed in Central Texas, and it is unclear whether there are injuries or deaths.[/FONT]

​

[FONT=&quot]Lynn Lunsford with the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement that the accident happened about 8:40 a.m. Saturday near Lockhart, Texas, when the hot air balloon crashed into a pasture.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Lunsford said that the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board are going to the scene to investigate.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Lockhart is about 30 miles south of Austin.[/FONT]

Hot air balloon carrying at least 16 people crashes in Texas | Fox News

Here's hoping there is good news to be learned soon.

 

[_Sal]

I do not even want to think about how that would feel looking up and seeing the balloon catch on fire and knowing we are going down baby

isn't 16 rather a load for those baskets?

 

[EMNofSeattle]

ABC is reporting 16 fatalities

 

[Renae]

Hot Air Balloon Carrying at Least 16 People Crashes in Texas; Likely No Survivors | NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

RIP.

 

[Moon]

Wow, that's awful.

 

[Fenton]

Never catch me in one of those things.

A Gondola carrying that many people has 2 x 20 Gallon Stainless steel tanks with LPG fuel, 2 regulators and a burner assembly, and stainless braided lines

So a open flame near a LPG leak means disaster for the occupants

 

[Thoreau72]

May they rest in peace.

 

[Cryptic]

isn't 16 rather a load for those baskets?

Not anymore. The baskets have been supersized. The largest number of fatalities in a hot hair balloon has been 19 or 20 in Egypt.

 

[_Sal]

Not anymore. The baskets have been supersized. The largest number of fatalities in a hot hair balloon has been 19 or 20 in Egypt.

thanks for the information....

and just to comment

my god they were burned alive

 

[Cryptic]

thanks for the information....

and just to comment

my god they were burned alive

It is awful. Changes might be coming though. Hot air balloons are not currently considered to be 'aircraft' so they are not subject to a lot of regulation. Pilot training, safety standards etc. are largely: "If you say you are a pilot, then you are one." And, "If you say its safe- then its safe."

But, that was before you could kill twenty people in one. Evidently the NTSB and FAA are going to get a lot larger role in hot air ballooning.

 

[Deuce]

It is awful. Changes might be coming though. Hot air balloons are not currently considered to be 'aircraft' so they are not subject to a lot of regulation. Pilot training, safety standards etc. are largely: "If you say you are a pilot, then you are one." And, "If you say its safe- then its safe."

But, that was before you could kill twenty people in one. Evidently the NTSB and FAA are going to get a lot larger role in hot air ballooning.

They are actually an aircraft category with its own licensing requirements.

 

[Cryptic]

They are actually an aircraft category with its own licensing requirements.

If they are, then they appear to be minimal:

Regulations questioned after deadly hot air balloon crash

From the article:
- The balloon federation sets safety standards for member pilots, who take safety courses, Carlton said. Nichols was not a member of the group.

- The NTSB concludes that passengers who hire air tour balloon operators should have the benefit of a similar level of safety oversight as passengers of air tour airplane and helicopter operations," the letter said. The FAA rejected the recommendations.

 

[Deuce]

If they are, then they appear to be minimal:

Regulations questioned after deadly hot air balloon crash

From the article:
- The balloon federation sets safety standards for member pilots, who take safety courses, Carlton said. Nichols was not a member of the group.

- The NTSB concludes that passengers who hire air tour balloon operators should have the benefit of a similar level of safety oversight as passengers of air tour airplane and helicopter operations," the letter said. The FAA rejected the recommendations.

It's not an if. "Lighter than air" is an aircraft category requiring a pilot's license. Operating a balloon for hire requires a Commercial Pilot Certificate with the Lighter than Air category.

As for why the regulations are lighter than those of fixed-wing or rotorcraft, from your own link:

From 1964 to 2013, the NTSB investigated 760 hot air balloon accidents in the United States, 67 of them fatal. Accidents typically occur because of several factors, including wind, weather and crashing into power lines.

So, roughly 1.2 fatal balloon accidents per year, which is fewer than the number of fatal vending machine accidents.