The Latest: NTSB slams 'disparity' in balloon pilot licenses
A member of the National Transportation Safety Board has criticized what he called a "disparity" in the FAA requirements for hot air balloon operators compared to airplane or helicopter pilots.
Robert Sumwalt said at a news conference Monday that hot air balloon pilots such as Alfred "Skip" Nichols would not have been required to report any alcohol-related incidents, as the FAA requires of airplane pilots applying for a license.
Missouri court records also show that Nichols settled a personal injury lawsuit in 2013 that was filed by one of eight passengers in his balloon that crash-landed in suburban St. Louis.
A Federal Aviation Administration accident report shows that a balloon registered to Heart of Texas Hot Air Balloon Rides made a hard landing in a church soccer field on Aug. 3, 2014.
The report says the company's retrieval team had parked its trailer in the balloon's landing path, causing the pilot to land short to avoid a collision.
FAA spokesman Lynn Lundsford said there are no other records of accidents or closed enforcement actions against Heart of Texas Hot Air Balloon Rides, or the company's pilot and owner, Alfred G. Nichols.
Bartch said Nichols' alcoholism and criminal record caused tensions with his father, a decorated military veteran.
The person who called 911 following a hot air balloon crash that killed 16 people thought it was a vehicle fire in a remote patch of Texas countryside.
Police say the pilot of a hot air balloon that crashed in Texas and killed all 16 people aboard was arrested in Missouri for driving while intoxicated in 2000.
A Missouri police officer tells The Associated Press that Nichols was arrested there in 2000 on a felony driving-while-intoxicated charge.