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Hot Air Balloon Tragedy Wairarapa

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« Reply #50 on: May 10, 2012, 08:32:42 pm »

Whether the pilot was stoned or not, is not the issue that will damage our reputation, the perception will be that those involved in our adventure industry are a bunch of dope-freaks.  Two incidents in comparative quick succession where a PM reveals operators had been smoking green and tourists were killed, is a bad look. 
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« Reply #51 on: May 10, 2012, 09:02:28 pm »

What he said^^^^
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« Reply #52 on: May 10, 2012, 09:30:54 pm »


Investigation 10-009

Report 10-009: Walter Fletcher FU24, ZK-EUF, loss of control on take-off and impact with terrain, Fox Glacier aerodrome, South Westland, 4 September 2010

On 4 September 2010 the pilot of a Walter Fletcher aeroplane with 8 parachutists on board lost control during take-off from Fox Glacier aerodrome. The aeroplane crashed in a paddock adjacent to the runway, killing all 9 occupants.

The Walter Fletcher had been modified from an agricultural aeroplane into a parachute-drop aeroplane some 3 months before the accident. The modification to the aircraft had been poorly managed, and discrepancies in the aeroplane's documentation had not been detected by the New Zealand Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), which had approved the change in category.

The new owner and operator of the aeroplane had not completed any weight and balance calculations on the aeroplane before it entered service, nor at any time before the accident. As a result the aeroplane was being flown outside its loading limits every time it carried a full load of 8 parachutists. On the accident flight the centre of gravity of the aeroplane was well rear of its aft limit and it became airborne at too low a speed to be controllable. The pilot was unable to regain control and the aeroplane continued to pitch up, then rolled left before striking the ground nearly vertically.

Recommendations

The Commission made 6 recommendations to the Director of Civil Aviation. Three related to the operation of parachute-drop aircraft, 2 related to the process for converting aircraft for another purpose and one related to seat restraints. A recommendation was made to the Secretary for Transport regarding the need for a drug and alcohol detection and deterrence regime for the various transport modes.

Key lessons

The investigation findings and recommendations provided reminders of the following practices that contribute to aviation safety:
 
- no 2 aircraft of the same model are exactly the same, even if they look that way; therefore pilots must do weight and balance calculations for every individual aircraft;

- modifying aircraft is a safety-critical process that must be done in strict accordance with rules and guidelines and with appropriate regulatory oversight;

- good rules, regulations and recommended practices are key to ensuring safe commercial aviation operations;

- operators need to ensure that aircraft are being operated in accordance with prescribed rules and guidelines, and flown within their operating limitations;

- aircraft operations need to be accompanied by relevant and robust procedures;

- maintaining flight safety requires active participation and a co-ordinated approach by all sectors of the industry.


Download the full report from here.
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« Reply #53 on: May 11, 2012, 09:35:15 am »

Whether the pilot was stoned or not, is not the issue that will damage our reputation, the perception will be that those involved in our adventure industry are a bunch of dope-freaks.  Two incidents in comparative quick succession where a PM reveals operators had been smoking green and tourists were killed, is a bad look. 

NZ has long had the incorrect mantre that we are a bunch of dopeheads in our adventure tourism industry, it is nothing new, this now just proves it to people who have lost loved ones etc and it won't matter to them and many others that that is not actually the case. There is also the generalisation that all Aventure Tourguides are sex crazed fiends who chase anything in a skirt, tho this is not 100% true, but as always there are the idiots who give the rest a bad name.

So, KTJ as Robman and yak pointed out, whether they were flying the play matters not, they were involved and the fact that they were stoned is what the general international community will pick up on and that will do just as much damage to our tourism industry than the fact the play was altered etc.

You for one KTJ should know that people don't let facts get in the way of a good story, especially the media.

Stoners have no place in the tourism industry, plain and simple!
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« Reply #54 on: May 11, 2012, 10:48:54 am »

You for one KTJ should know that people don't let facts get in the way of a good story, especially the media.


Hence the reason why I don't rely on what the news media say about things, but instead download the TAIC report and read the FACTS.

See the link I posted to download the report into the Fox Glacier aeroplane crash.

Go to the TAIC website and you can download the interim report into the balloon disaster from here.

Then you can read the FACTS and the findings from the experts instead of the sensationalism published by the news media.
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« Reply #55 on: May 11, 2012, 02:29:27 pm »

You for one KTJ should know that people don't let facts get in the way of a good story, especially the media.


Hence the reason why I don't rely on what the news media say about things, but instead download the TAIC report and read the FACTS.

See the link I posted to download the report into the Fox Glacier aeroplane crash.

Go to the TAIC website and you can download the interim report into the balloon disaster from here.

Then you can read the FACTS and the findings from the experts instead of the sensationalism published by the news media.


I think you've miss read what I said, I know what the facts are, it does not concern me, what concerns me is the idiots guides/ instructors who smoke dope while on duty because when shit like what happened at fox glacier happens and it is gathered up by the media that 2 guides/ instructors had be smoking dope, your average joe citizen only ever seems to hear that part and it gives the industry and those who work in it a blanket bad name.



I actually don't know why I'm trying to explain it to you TJ I doubt that it would sink in thru your thick skull and it is very obivious that you don't work in the adventure tourism industry!
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« Reply #56 on: May 11, 2012, 02:43:22 pm »


Hmmmm....I've been reading a few news reports from around the world about the report into the Fox Glacier crash last night and today....Oz newspapers, USA newspapers, Pommy news websites, and not one of them has anything other than the cause of the crash being the modification to the aeroplane and the failure of the company and pilot to calculate centre of gravity of the aeroplane and comply with maximum authorised loading. Not one peep about dope being in the system of a couple of the passengers (that's all they are until they exit the aeroplane), and not one single peep on any of those sites about the preliminary report into the Cartertoon balloon tragedy.

Now....I guarantee there are probably heaps of stoned and pissed passengers flying on scheduled airline flights around NZ every week, and unless they act up, they have no bearing on the safe operation of those flights. Just like the people in the cabin of that modified Fletcher at Fox Glacier. What passengers in an aeroplane have been indulging in and the safe operation of aeroplanes by flight & ground crew are two totally separate issues.
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« Reply #57 on: May 11, 2012, 03:00:08 pm »


Hmmmm....I've been reading a few news reports from around the world about the report into the Fox Glacier crash last night and today....Oz newspapers, USA newspapers, Pommy news websites, and not one of them has anything other than the cause of the crash being the modification to the aeroplane and the failure of the company and pilot to calculate centre of gravity of the aeroplane and comply with maximum authorised loading. Not one peep about dope being in the system of a couple of the passengers (that's all they are until they exit the aeroplane), and not one single peep on any of those sites about the preliminary report into the Cartertoon balloon tragedy.

Now....I guarantee there are probably heaps of stoned and pissed passengers flying on scheduled airline flights around NZ every week, and unless they act up, they have no bearing on the safe operation of those flights. Just like the people in the cabin of that modified Fletcher at Fox Glacier. What passengers in an aeroplane have been indulging in and the safe operation of aeroplanes by flight & ground crew are two totally separate issues.


Jeezus you are thick... there is a thing called word of mouth for a start, and believe it or not it can be more effective then many other things so give it time, it will get out there!

2ndly no where did I say that they the instrutors caused the accident.. so stop putting words in my mouth!

3rdly I have had 15 years full time eperience in the adventure tourism industry with my eyes wide open (I haven't been stuck in the cab of a train thinking I know it all) so I know that the fact that it came to light that the 2 instuctors had smoked dope will have an adverse effect on the adventure industry in some way. As I said, which I gather you missed this gives an incorrect creedance to the assumption that all adventure tourguides/ instructors are dope smokers!
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« Reply #58 on: May 11, 2012, 05:43:30 pm »


Hmmmm....I've been reading a few news reports from around the world about the report into the Fox Glacier crash last night and today....Oz newspapers, USA newspapers, Pommy news websites, and not one of them has anything other than the cause of the crash being the modification to the aeroplane and the failure of the company and pilot to calculate centre of gravity of the aeroplane and comply with maximum authorised loading. Not one peep about dope being in the system of a couple of the passengers (that's all they are until they exit the aeroplane), and not one single peep on any of those sites about the preliminary report into the Cartertoon balloon tragedy.

Now....I guarantee there are probably heaps of stoned and pissed passengers flying on scheduled airline flights around NZ every week, and unless they act up, they have no bearing on the safe operation of those flights. Just like the people in the cabin of that modified Fletcher at Fox Glacier. What passengers in an aeroplane have been indulging in and the safe operation of aeroplanes by flight & ground crew are two totally separate issues.


The father seems to have failed to realise that two of the  four tandem masters had smoked cannabis, though TAIC said it did not contribute to the crash as they were not crew members of the plane.

So obviously all four tourists, and his son was one, were going tandem... and may never have known two of those Adventure Tourism operators were impaired

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/6884434/Skydive-tragedy-Fatal-crash-failures

http://xtranewscommunity2.smfforfree.com/index.php/topic,11388.0/msg,130505.html

 
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« Reply #59 on: May 13, 2012, 08:50:44 am »


Hmmmm....I've been reading a few news reports from around the world about the report into the Fox Glacier crash last night and today....Oz newspapers, USA newspapers, Pommy news websites, and not one of them has anything other than the cause of the crash being the modification to the aeroplane and the failure of the company and pilot to calculate centre of gravity of the aeroplane and comply with maximum authorised loading. Not one peep about dope being in the system of a couple of the passengers (that's all they are until they exit the aeroplane), and not one single peep on any of those sites about the preliminary report into the Cartertoon balloon tragedy.

Now....I guarantee there are probably heaps of stoned and pissed passengers flying on scheduled airline flights around NZ every week, and unless they act up, they have no bearing on the safe operation of those flights. Just like the people in the cabin of that modified Fletcher at Fox Glacier. What passengers in an aeroplane have been indulging in and the safe operation of aeroplanes by flight & ground crew are two totally separate issues.


The father seems to have failed to realise that two of the  four tandem masters had smoked cannabis, though TAIC said it did not contribute to the crash as they were not crew members of the plane.

So obviously all four tourists, and his son was one, were going tandem... and may never have known two of those Adventure Tourism operators were impaired

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/6884434/Skydive-tragedy-Fatal-crash-failures

http://xtranewscommunity2.smfforfree.com/index.php/topic,11388.0/msg,130505.html

 


Whether the the tourists (and now the father) were aware or would have ever been aware that the instructors had take drugs or not is immaterial. they had smoked dope, it was found out and is now known about.

As I've said before, I know they were not the cause of the accident but even if the jump had been successful they still should not be stoned and working!

Those of us who work in the industry have peoples lives in our hands, one slight inattention and we could have a seriously injured if not dead person/s on our hands. We have a bad enough rep (which is often a generalisation) as it is due to either cowboy opperators/ guides and over sexed guides... we don't need clowns like these giving people the excuse to say its true!

So I am all for random drug testing!
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« Reply #60 on: May 13, 2012, 09:22:11 am »

Quote
So I am all for random drug testing!
    I would make it compulsory.
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« Reply #61 on: May 13, 2012, 01:02:53 pm »



Quote
So I am all for random drug testing!
    I would make it compulsory.

ditto here.

I would extend drug and alcohol testing to the clients of adventure tourism operators too  Wink

PS: After they had paid their ticket for the trip

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« Reply #62 on: January 05, 2013, 03:04:59 pm »

Almost a year after the Carterton ballooning tragedy, a Contact Energy decision to stop supplying propane gas to ballooning festivals has dealt another blow to an industry still in mourning.

On January 7 last year, Somerset Rd in Carterton was the scene of a fiery hot air balloon crash that claimed the lives of pilot Lance Hopping and all 10 passengers on board.

A criminal investigation was immediately launched, as well as an investigation on behalf of the coroner.

Police are still completing their inquiry, but are expected to start preparing for an inquest in the next few months.

Contact Energy said its decision to cut off the supply of propane gas was because the cost of supplying it safely to festivals was now too high for the company to justify.

The move means those bringing hot air balloons to popular local fiesta Lift Off Levin - which returns to the town this Easter - could be forced to fuel them using LPG gas from local petrol stations.

Lift Off Levin organiser Denis Hall said the fatal Carterton incident had made the past year difficult.

"The ballooning community were sort of gobsmacked at what happened," he said.

"We were shocked and we were stunned, and a year on we still really feel for the families and everyone affected. It has been our only topic of conversation in the last year."

But the deaths at Carterton had not had any impact on ballooning festivals until Contact's decision this week, he said.

"Our event [lift Off Levin] uses so much propane that there is a possibility that if the petrol stations aren't prepared for us, we could run them dry."

The pure propane Contact used to supply was far better than LPG because it did not need to be modified in any way, Mr Hall said.

Balloons could get more horsepower and they did not need to warm the gas or pressurise it with nitrogen.

"The balloons can fly with LPG but to have to use it for an entire fiesta is a bit like turning up at a racetrack and having to use 91 unleaded."

Mr Hall was offended by the use of the Carterton tragedy as a way for Contact to justify cutting costs.

"In the email they sent me to tell me their decision they mentioned there were question marks over the safety of filling a balloon with propane following the Carterton ballooning incident," Mr Hall said.

"To use that as a reason for stopping supply of propane is like saying we are putting the price of petrol up because the All Blacks lost a game of rugby - they are completely unrelated issues.

"It is almost as though they are using a reference to Carterton to shut us up."

Contact Energy spokesman Nicholas Robinson said the decision to stop supplying propane was commercial and had been on the table well before the Carterton tragedy.

"We looked at the costs of logistics and the costs involved in supplying propane adequately to ballooning festivals and decided it was not a good commercial decision."

It was not related to what happened at Carterton.

Mr Robinson said propane was available from other suppliers and Contact had provided details of those suppliers to organisers.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/8145522/Contact-says-no-gas-for-balloons
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« Reply #63 on: January 05, 2013, 03:44:46 pm »

bring in Hank Hill

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« Reply #64 on: January 05, 2013, 09:00:45 pm »


Memories of balloon crash still raw

One year on, Seamus Boyer speaks to the people at the centre of the
Carterton balloon crash, one of New Zealand's worst aviation disasters.


By SEAMUS BOYER - The Dominion Post | 5:00AM - Saturday, 05 January 2013

TRAGEDY: Firefighters, ambulance staff and police next to the paddock where the burning balloon crashed outside Carterton. — Photo: TV ONE.
TRAGEDY: Firefighters, ambulance staff and police next to the paddock where the burning balloon
crashed outside Carterton. — Photo: TV ONE.


ON MANY DAYS at least a car or two will slow to a curious crawl as they pass along Somerset Road.

Those inside will look at the spots where the two "young ones" jumped from the ill-fated balloon, point at the long ago-fixed wires overhead, and imagine how the tragedy unfolded.

They might trace a path high above the road, turning their glances to a small area of paddock on the opposite side, before carrying on driving towards State Highway 2.

On other days a car will stop, and people get out and place flowers at the edge of the paddock where the balloon crashed to earth.

Sometimes, though rarely, people climb the fence and silently stand before what were once two patches of scorched earth — one for the balloon canopy, the other for the basket and its doomed cargo.

Twelve months after the crash that killed 11 people early on Saturday, January 07, little has changed physically on the sleepy rural road just north of Carterton, in Wairarapa.

The blackened earth might be gone and wooden fences now enclose the final resting places, so-to-speak, of the victims.

But the farms are just as they were, along with the high-voltage lines, the neighbours, and the paddocks that pilot Lance Hopping had skirted or landed in hundreds of times before.

However, for many of those intimately involved on that day, Somerset Road will never be the same.


DAMON SEARLE: The flames and the heat must have been terrific. — Photo: LOREN DOUGAN.
DAMON SEARLE: The flames and the heat must have
been terrific. — Photo: LOREN DOUGAN.


DAMON SEARLE can still hear the screams of those in the balloon moments before their deaths.

Mr Searle, 37, a dairy farmer, was milking cows with another worker across the road from the crash site when he noticed the balloon.

"We saw it go over and then we could see the top of the balloon going up and down, as if it were trying to land, and we thought it was strange."

Moments later he saw the balloon drift into the wires, causing them to arc, and the basket burst into flames.

"We ran up the track towards it but it was already on fire," he said. "The roar of the flames and the heat must have been terrific — there was nothing you could do. And the screams, that's something I'll never forget, I've never heard screaming like it."

A year later he still thought about the crash "all the time".

"Especially when I'm at work because I see it all day," he said. "You just think, 11 people died there, on the place I work."

He still questioned why Mr Hopping did not land the balloon earlier.

"You sort of think why? Why did it happen? There was a 10-acre paddock before those lines that he could have landed in."


SIMON IRVING: I was there to deal with those initial actions and to do them pretty well. — Photo: LOREN DOUGAN.
SIMON IRVING: I was there to deal with those initial actions
and to do them pretty well. — Photo: LOREN DOUGAN.


WITH gas bottles hissing and the crash site still smouldering, Sergeant Simon Irving assigned himself the grisly task of examining the wreckage.

"My primary responsibility was (A): to secure the scene, and (B): to confirm that everyone on that balloon was dead," he said. "We knew that it was important to quickly do that, because people needed that information in a hurry."

Handed a passenger list, he knew exactly how many people were on board, but initially he and Sergeant Peter Rix could not tally up the bodies.

"The [situation report] that I got was that the two that jumped had been confirmed as dead. So there should have been nine in what was just a smouldering mass. We tried to count nine but we could only count seven." He secured the area by posting officers at both ends of Somerset Road, while firefighters scoured paddocks for other survivors or bodies.

Mr Irving's actions were to prove the start of a year of police investigations, involving officers in New Zealand and overseas and hundreds of man hours.

A criminal investigation was immediately launched, as well as an investigation on behalf of the coroner.

Police are still completing their investigations, but are expected to start preparing for an inquest in the next few months. The inquest will likely be held after the final Transport Accident Investigation Commission report is issued midyear.

One year on Mr Irving still vividly remembers the day of the crash.

Having arrived early for his 7am shift, he had just settled down to have a quick cup of coffee and a read of The Dominion Post.

Moments later the first call came through, saying a balloon had been seen on fire. He initially thought the caller had mistaken the burners on the balloon for it being on fire.

"When another call came through right after saying the same thing, I knew that something was up."

He drove to the scene along with another officer in a separate car.

On arrival firefighters and ambulance staff were already there.

Family members of the victims and ground crew staff were also there.

Mr Irving said there was "much less chaos than you'd think". "I think everybody was pretty resolved by that point about what had happened."

"[The deaths] were pretty explainable because the families and ground crews had been following it all along. Other than the two that jumped the rest were in one place, and the families knew that and they could see that no-one could survive that."

Though he would never forget the crash, it did not affect him emotionally. "I was there to deal with those initial actions and to do them pretty well. It's just part of the job and the next day there were other jobs to concentrate on."

After hearing the initial news of the crash, Bob and Merle Hopkirk hoped against hope that somehow it would not be their son.

"We were at home waiting for him to come back when it came across the radio that there had been a balloon accident and that everybody had died," Mr Hopkirk said. "You sort of started hoping that maybe there were two balloons up that morning.

"Then they said that two [passengers] had jumped out and you thought maybe they were your loved ones, but then it turned out they had died as well."

The Hopkirks' son, Stephen, had been given the balloon ride as a 50th birthday present from his partner, Belinda Harter, who was also killed.

And Mr Hopping was due to get married to fiancee Nina Kelynack, with invitations to their wedding arriving in the mailboxes of guests that same morning.

For the Hopkirks, January 07, 2012, was supposed to be a happy day.

As well as being the date of Stephen's birthday, it was also Bob and Merle's 56th wedding anniversary.

Mr Hopkirk said the family would never forget the crash. "All sorts of things remind you of it. We've just finished selling Stephen's house and Belinda's house as well."

But despite the continuing pain, they were still getting by "all right". "I don't see it as good days and bad days, it's more good moments and bad moments."


MEGAN SEARLE: I walked in the garden and there was a shoe at our gate. — Photo: LOREN DOUGAN.
MEGAN SEARLE: I walked in the garden and there was
a shoe at our gate. — Photo: LOREN DOUGAN.


FOR WEEKS after the crash Megan Searle was finding pieces of burnt wicker in her lawn and orchard — continuing reminders of the terrible event that took place over her fence.

Having been away with friends in Taranaki at the time of the crash, a shoe from one victim was the first thing she found on her return the next day.

"I walked in the garden and there was a shoe at our gate," she said. "It was just sitting there by the gate and it just really brought it home to me that it was real, that this was reality."

Mrs Searle, witness Damon's mother, lives just metres from where the balloon came to rest. The house the family had lived in for 20 years was suddenly on television around the world.

For a week after the crash police officers camped at the site, scouring the area for evidence. The nine bodies also stayed on site for several days.

During winter she decided to plant two liquidambar (sweetgum) trees on the two sections of what was once scorched grass from the balloon and the basket.

"It's always going to a place where a tragedy occurred, and I'd like to think that we'll look after the site."

AS president of the NZ Balloon Association, Martyn Stacey knows a lot about ballooning. But 12 months on he is still in the dark as to exactly how the disaster happened.

"I'm still trying to get my head around it like everyone else. We know there were no mechanical problems, my guess is that it was the result of a lot of little things going wrong at the same time." Mr Stacey had known Mr Hopping for about 15 years, describing him as a "really happy-go-lucky guy".

Mr Hopping had more than 1000 hours' pilot experience, and worked as safety officer at the Wairarapa Ballooning Festival, where Mr Stacey was event director.

He was "shocked and stunned" by the revelation Mr Hopping had traces of cannabis in his system, but was unsure what part, if any, it might have played in the crash.

On January 07, he received a phonecall at his Christchurch home, 10 minutes after the crash, he said.

He would spend the next few weeks juggling calls from balloonists and reporters all over the world.

There was no question the crash initially put people off ballooning, but demand was not long in picking up.

Also to blame for an initial downturn in customers was the handling of the investigation itself, he said.

In February, the Transport Accident Investigation Commission recommended urgent checks on the maintenance of all 74 balloons in the country. It was later revealed only 16 balloons were potentially not airworthy.

One year on from the second worst crash in ballooning history, — an Australian crash killed 13 in 1989 — Mr Stacey said nothing could rival the majestical thrill of an early-morning balloon ride. "Ballooning is a magical experience, and this hasn't changed that."


http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/8144649/Memories-of-balloon-crash-still-raw



Mid-year date for final report on Carterton balloon crash

By SEAMUS BOYER - The Dominion Post | 5:00AM - Saturday, 05 January 2013

FAMILIES of those killed in last year's Carterton balloon crash will have to wait for a further six months for a final report on the tragedy.

An investigation was started by the Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC) one year ago after a balloon piloted by Lance Hopping hit powerlines on January 07, 2012.

The balloon burst into flames and crashed into a paddock on Somerset Road, just north of Carterton, killing Mr Hopping and all 10 passengers.

TAIC spokesman Peter Northcote said the investigation was now "well into the analysis stage", but would not be ready until "mid-year".

"When this work is completed in the next two to three months, formal consultations will commence with the various parties involved before the commission [confirms] and releases its final report."

The final report is likely to include analysis of the established facts, plus recommendations on how a future tragedy could be avoided.

Lower Hutt man Bob Hopkirk, whose son, Stephen, died in the crash, said he expected some recommendations to target the use of cannabis, after traces were found in Mr Hopping's blood.

"But you can make rules and whether people stick to them is another thing."

Stephen Hopkirk had received the balloon ride as a 50th birthday present from his partner, Belinda Harter, who was also killed.

Families had been kept well-informed by TAIC as to the timeframe, Mr Hopkirk said.

While he welcomed the final report, it would not "do much" for the families involved.

"It's a little bit ‘So what’ really. We've got a pretty good idea of what happened and you can use your imagination a bit too."

An interim report released by TAIC in May detailed the movements of the balloon during its fateful flight, and used photographs and witness accounts to piece together what had happened after impact with the powerlines.

It found that as the balloon prepared to land, it descended to within 5 metres of the ground, with relatives of some of the victims saying an "isolated gust of wind" had then caused the balloon to veer sharply toward the lines.

After becoming stuck, two passengers leapt from the burning basket before one of the powerlines snapped.

The balloon shot 150m into the air, then collapsed in flames.

The crash was the deadliest involving a New Zealand aircraft since the 1979 Erebus disaster.


http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/8144760/Mid-year-date-for-final-report-on-Carterton-balloon-crash
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« Reply #65 on: February 23, 2013, 10:02:56 am »


Balloon crash pilot not fit to fly
NZ Newswire February 23, 2013, 8:59 am

http://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/top-stories/16214257/balloon-crash-pilot-not-fit-to-fly/ Cry
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« Reply #66 on: October 31, 2013, 11:14:16 am »


‘Poor judgement’ led to fatal flight

By MICHAEL DALY - The Dominion Post | 12 NOON - Thursday, 31 October 2013

The path of the balloon and the place where it crashed. — Google Maps.
The path of the balloon and the place where it crashed. — Google Maps.

POOR JUDGEMENT and decision-making contributed to the Wairarapa ballooning tragedy that claimed 11 lives, the Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC) has found.

It had been unsafe for pilot Lance Hopping on the morning of January 7th last year to allow the balloon to descend below the level of power lines, and to remain at a low level while the balloon crossed a paddock.

When collision with the power lines became unavoidable, the pilot should have followed the balloon manufacturer's advice and rapidly descended the balloon, instead of making it climb, the TAIC said.

It also concluded autopsy toxicology results from the 53-year-old pilot showed the result of long-term and recent use of cannabis.

"While it is difficult to say how much each type of use contributed to the result, cannabis is known to affect a person's judgement and decision-making ability," TAIC said.

"Poor judgement and poor decision-making were factors contributing to this accident. The commission found that the pilot's use of cannabis could not be excluded as a factor contributing to his errors of judgement, and therefore to the accident."

"Both long term and recent use of cannabis may significantly impair a person's performance of their duties, especially those involving complex tasks."

TAIC called for significant reform of alcohol and drug regulation across the aviation, rail and marine modes.

Passengers Desmond and Ann Dean, Denise Dellabarca, Johannes Jordaan and Alexis Still, Diana and Howard Cox, Valerie Bennett, Stephen Hopkirk and Belinda Harter died in the crash, along with Mr Hopping.

The TAIC report recommended the introduction of appropriate legislation or rules that would:

❏ prescribe allowable maximum levels of alcohol.

❏ prohibit people from operating an aircraft, vessel or rail vehicle if they were impaired by drugs.

❏ require operators to implement drug and alcohol detection and deterrence regimes, including random testing.

❏ prescribe post-occurrence testing requirements for drugs and alcohol.

The TAIC said it was increasingly seeing more incidents where the use of performance-impairing substances was a feature.

It said a key lesson from the accident was that: "Under no circumstances should operators of transport vehicles, or crew members and support crew with safety-critical roles ever use it."

The second key lesson involved power lines, which were a well recognised critical hazard to hot-air balloon operators.

"Balloon pilots should give them a wide margin and if they ever inadvertently encounter them, they should follow the balloon manufacturers' advice and best industry practice to mitigate the possible consequences," TAIC said.

The tragedy happened on January 7th, 2012, when a Cameron Balloons Ltd hot-air balloon, with 10 passengers and the pilot on board, became entangled in power lines near Carterton shortly after 7.20am.

The balloon had descended to between 5 and 7 metres from the ground as it drifted over a silage paddock, which was bound on two sides by 33-kilovolt power lines with an average height of about 9 metres.

"The balloon was drifting towards the power lines on the far road-end boundary when the wind changed and took it towards power lines closer to the adjacent boundary. The pilot applied the burners to try to out-climb the power lines, but the basket of the balloon became entangled in them," TAIC said.

About 15-30 seconds later there was an intense electrical arcing and fire erupted in the lower part of the basket. One of the balloon's liquefied petroleum gas fuel cylinders was ruptured by the arcing, and escaping fuel intensified the fire.

Two passengers jumped while the basket was still caught on the wires, from a height of about 20m, and they died from their injuries.

Heat from the fire raised the air temperature in the balloon envelope to a point where it broke the wire restraining it. The balloon rapidly rose to between 110 and 150m before the balloon envelope caught fire and collapsed.

The balloon fell to the ground, and the pilot and eight remaining passengers died from their injuries.

Autopsy toxicology tests showed the pilot had levels of THC — an active ingredient of cannabis — of 2 micrograms per litre of blood.

On the balance of probabilities, that level of THC resulted from both longer term and recent use, TAIC said.

"On reviewing the evidence available, it was highly likely that the pilot smoked cannabis on the morning of the flight."

Two witnesses had seen him smoking on the balcony of a shed shortly before the flight.

The pilot was not known to smoke regular cigarettes and his urine tested negative for cotinine, which was normally found in the urine of someone who smoked regular tobacco.

TAIC chief commissioner John Marshall QC told a briefing on the report the commission had investigated six incidents in the past 10 years where people operating aircraft, vessels or rail vehicles, or where people performing functions directly relevant to their safe operation, had tested positive for performance-impairing substances.

Thirty-five people had died in those accidents.


http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/wairarapa/9346767/Poor-judgement-led-to-fatal-flight
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« Reply #67 on: October 31, 2013, 11:32:38 am »


• Download the full report from HERE.



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« Reply #68 on: January 23, 2015, 05:21:46 pm »


from The Dominion Post....

Carterton balloon disaster photo sequence released

Many victims' families in support

By SIMON BRADWELL AND CALEB HARRIS | 6:11PM - Friday, 23 January 2015

TERRIBLE MOMENTS

IMAGES of the final seconds of the Carterton balloon tragedy have been revealed.

The release of four photos follows a lengthy court battle supported by many of the victims' families, the coroner and media to make images taken of the January 2012 tragedy public.

“This is a victory for freedom of speech,” said lawyer Alastair Sherriff, who represented several of the victims' families at the coroner's.

“This is a victory for the media's right to publish, and the public's right to know.”

The first photograph in the series shows the moment the balloon, carrying 11 people, hit powerlines in a paddock near Carterton.

Subsequent photographs show fire breaking out in the balloon basket, which then breaks free in flames, before the balloon collapses and plummets to the ground, killing everyone on board.

Allan Still, whose teenage daughter Alexis died in the crash, said publication of the photos was important.

“We're very, very much of the mindset that publication could help prevent another tragedy, and we believe the coroner felt the same way,” he said.

“You can read about the accident, but when you see it in action, it brings it home.”

“I want people to be aware of the risks when they go on a balloon.”

The photographs are among 600 taken by Wairarapa photographer Geoff Walker as he followed the balloon's flight.

All of the images were suppressed by Coroner Peter Ryan in the immediate aftermath of the tragedy, because they might cause distress to the victims' families.

In May last year, as the coroner's inquest began in Wellington, TVNZ applied to the coroner to release four photographs showing the sequence of events.

The broadcaster argued there was a strong public interest in releasing the photographs — and that people should be able to make an informed decision about balloon industry safety.

The application was supported by most of the families of the victims of the tragedy — but strongly opposed by Walker, who claimed copyright over the photographs and refused to release them.

In July, the coroner granted the media application and said the photographs could be published.

“The grounds of decency and personal privacy no longer support forcing the principle of open justice to yield,” he said, adding that after two years families would have undergone “some degree of emotional healing”.

Coroner Ryan chose four photographs which were admitted as exhibits.

“The photographs do not portray anything that could be said to be indecent,” he said.

Walker then applied to the High Court for a judicial review of the decision, because he said he owned the images and they should not be released to media without his permission.

Walker said today that his fight wasn't about money, but because publication “didn't do anyone any good”.

“If I was interested in money I would have published them the same day,” he said.

“I had plenty of offers.”

“I've made no money out of the crash photos and have had no desire to.”

In October, Justice Alan MacKenzie dismissed the review.

Walker then sought to have that overturned by the Court of Appeal — but today the coroner said Walker had abandoned his action.

Walker said he was disappointed the pictures would be published, and highly critical of the coroner.

“The coroner had already made up his mind,” he said.

“They're my photos — who's he to play censor? There was no consultation.I think he's got an arrogance. The decider of public decency, I thought, was the censor [not the coroner].”

Walker did not accept publication of the photographs would prevent another tragedy.

“Rubbish. There's pictures like that already out there — there are worse photos,” he said.

“Do photos of car crashes stop car crashes?”

Walker was supported by Martyn Stacey, Ballooning Aviation Association of NZ president, who said Walker had the right to withhold the pictures.

“It's the guy's personal property,” he said.

He also doubted the pictures would prevent another tragedy.

“It illustrates what happens when a balloon hits a powerline and things go wrong,” he said.

“If a balloon hits a powerline and the pilot does what he should have done, which is the emergency release [to descend], you've got a much greater chance of survival.”

Stacey said the risk of hitting powerlines had been at the front of the minds of balloon pilots since the tragedy.

The coroner has not yet released his findings on the accident.

Much of the inquest — and investigations by the Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC) — focussed on pilot Lance Hopping, who was found to have had traces of cannabis in his body.

TAIC also found Hopping had made mistakes by flying below the level of the powerlines despite not trying to land.

He also tried to out-climb the power-lines, when accepted practice was to descend.

Also killed were Howard and Diana Cox, 71 and 63, of Wellington; Desmond and Ann Dean, 70 and 65, of Masterton; cousins Valerie Bennett, 70, of Masterton, and Denise Dellabarca, 58, of Paraparaumu; Stephen Hopkirk, 50, and Belinda Harter, 49, of Lower Hutt; and Chrisjan Jordaan, 21, and Alexis Still, 19, of Wellington.


Images taken of the Carterton balloon disaster used in evidence in a coroner's inquest can now be shown. — Photo: GEOFFREY WALKER.

Images taken of the Carterton balloon disaster used in evidence in a coroner's inquest can now be shown. — Photo: GEOFFREY WALKER.

Images taken of the Carterton balloon disaster used in evidence in a coroner's inquest can now be shown. — Photo: GEOFFREY WALKER.

Images taken of the Carterton balloon disaster used in evidence in a coroner's inquest can now be shown. — Photo: GEOFFREY WALKER.

Images taken of the Carterton balloon disaster used in evidence in a coroner's inquest can now be shown.
 — All photographs: GEOFFREY WALKER.


http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/65364772/Carterton-balloon-disaster-photo-sequence-released
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« Reply #69 on: January 23, 2015, 06:46:01 pm »

"Kate Turner's children lost their dad, Howard Cox, when a hot air balloon struck powerlines and crashed in flames near Carterton on January 7, 2012.

She has no doubt that knowing the history of complaints about pilot Lance Hopping would have stopped her ex-husband from taking the flight.

"We've all said he would have never, ever got in that balloon if he had known a) that Mr Hopping's medical certificate had expired, and b) that he was a cannabis user," she said."

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11302760

Another area where drug tests should be implemented...people who are stoned  should not be in control of other peoples lives!!
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« Reply #70 on: April 21, 2015, 03:54:19 pm »

Willie Nelson to sell marijuana
Last updated 13:40, April 21 2015
 Musician Willie Nelson is joining the marijuana business.
DANNY MOLOSHOK/Reuters
Musician Willie Nelson is joining the marijuana business.

Country music star Willie Nelson has announced plans to roll out his own brand of marijuana, capitalising on his association with pot and the unofficial stoner holiday, 4/20.

The move makes the 81-year-old Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die singer the latest celebrity to jump into the marijuana marketplace.

"Willie's Reserve" will be grown and sold in Colorado and Washington, where recreational pot is legal. Nelson said in a statement that he's "looking forward to working with the best growers in Colorado and Washington to make sure our product is the best on the market."

Nelson joins other famous pot personalities, including rapper Snoop Dogg, who endorses vaporizing products; singer Melissa Etheridge, developing marijuana-infused wine; and reality TV star and self-help guru Bethenny Frankel, who is working on a strain of Skinnygirl weed that wouldn't leave users with the munchies.

"Like other industries, branding and creative marketing is a big part of supporting legal cannabis products," said Vicki Christophersen, director of the Washington CannaBusiness Association.

Christophersen said these connections continue a long tradition of celebrities endorsing the use of marijuana - even decades before it became legal for adult use.

Nelson, who was not available for comment Monday, is among those with well-established connections to cannabis. He's been a decriminalisation advocate and has been busted for pot possession several times. He also appeared in the stoner comedy "Half Baked."

Washington and Colorado made pot legal for adult use in 2012. Oregon, Alaska and the District of Columbia also have removed legal restrictions, and more states are expected to vote on legalization next year.

The moves have created marketing opportunities, but links to celebrity smokers aren't always considered a positive.

This year, the National Cannabis Industry Association decided to drop actor Tommy Chong - co-star of the Cheech and Chong comedy team - as it prepared to lobby Congress for pot-friendly regulations. The group wanted to move past the stoner stereotypes they say Chong represents in favor of positioning pot as similar to fine wine.


Others see it differently, however.

Chong has an endorsement deal with Marisol Therapeutics, a pot shop in Pueblo, Colorado, that sells a strain in his name.

Store owner Mike Stetler called Chong marijuana's equivalent of the Marlboro Man, and when it comes to pot pitchmen, he asked, "Who better?"



 - Stuff.co.nz
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« Reply #71 on: September 14, 2015, 08:16:42 am »

...ahhhahaha.."too complex"....that's code for..." we dont want to lose half of our staff..because they may test positive"?

..drug tests are quick and cheap Wink


Adventure tourism drug testing too complex, says Ministry of Transport report
 
Allan Still lost his daughter Alexis in 2012's deadly Carterton balloon tragedy. Pilot Lance Hopping was found to have cannabis in his system and Still says that, despite claims it would be too hard to set up, random drug-testing in the adventure tourism sector should be mandatory.

Random drug-testing in the adventure tourism industry could be quietly shelved, despite being recommended in the wake of the Carterton balloon tragedy.

 The Traffic Accident Investigation Commission's report into the 2012 Carterton balloon tragedy, which killed 11 people, recommended random drug testing of all adventure tourism operators. It came after balloon pilot Lance Hopping, among those killed, was found to have cannabis in his system before the doomed flight.

But heavily redacted briefings to then Transport Minister Gerry Brownlee, released under the Official Information Act, show officials thought rolling out random drug testing in the industry would be too complex.

Carterton balloon crash victim Alexis Still.
SUPPLIED
Carterton balloon crash victim Alexis Still.

"This indicates that a 'blanket' regulatory approach to managing this risk across the aviation, maritime and rail sectors – commercial and recreational – may not be appropriate," the report says.

It distinguishes between alcohol, "which is a relatively simple drug that behaves in predictable ways", and the complex ever-evolving illegal recreational drugs, which were harder for forensic testing to keep up.

In 2012, prompted in part by the Carterton crash, Prime Minister and Tourism Minister John Key said the Government needed to consider mandatory drug-testing in the tourism industry.

Allan Still, father Alexis Still, who was 19 when she died in the Carterton crash, has previously spoken out in favour of mandatory random testing.

Still said on Friday that the excuse that it would be too tricky was just the Government passing the buck. "Sometimes it's just get on and do it. It seems to be we're looking at this as being too hard to implement."

His view is support by a drug testing expert, who said far from being complex, the process is as easy as peeing into a cup -  and an accurate result is delivered in five minutes.

Drug and Substance Testing New Zealand director Wendy Gray said testing is simple and mobile - with "donors" able to supply a sample in specially-equipped vans.

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Testing was accurate for the "big six" drugs, often more than 90 per cent, she said.

The main six drugs were amphetamines, methamphetamine, cocaine, opiates, Benzodiazepines, and cannabis, she said.

The move also had some industry support. DenisHall, a ballooning veteran and organiser of the the Lift Off Levin festival, said the commercial industry welcomed mandatory random testing as it looks to salvage its tarnished reputation.
Balloonist and   said he knew of no commercial pilots who mind random testing.
The industry lost millions internationally after the Carterton crash, he said, and the handful of commercial operators left in the country were keen to repair ballooning's image.

Hall said he would be "gobsmacked" if a single balloonist in the country now refused a drug test.

"If somebody came along to our balloon fiesta and said they would drug test everybody, I'd say 'go for your life'."

But the report cites a raft of difficulties in setting limits for different drugs, especially because many drugs do not act like alcohol, which was predictable at maximum concentration and impairment in the body.

With other drugs, such as cannabis, there was not always a clear link between detectable levels in the blood and degree of impairment. People could be measurably impaired on other drugs without the intoxicant being present in the blood.

The report claimed drug-testing technology was also often invasive, expensive and was not as advanced as alcohol testing, which, unlike drugs, can be picked up in breath tests.

Ministry of Transport aviation and maritime general manager Nick Brown

said no decisions had been made on mandatory random drug testing covering all transport operators in the tourism sector. However, recent changes to the Civil Aviation Authority now required all adventure aviation operators to include random testing in their drug and alcohol management plans while Maritime New Zealand now required its operators to produce a self-regulating drug and alcohol policy, where each operator determined what type of screening was needed.

The ministry had prepared advice for Transport Minister Simon Bridges to consider on options to reduce the risks of alcohol and drug impairment in aviation, maritime and rail, he said.

Bridges could not be reached for comment.

 - Stuff
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« Reply #72 on: July 31, 2016, 02:25:55 pm »


High voltage power lines + a burning hot air balloon and multiple fatalities.

It looks scarily like what happened in Carterton back in January 2012.




from The Washington Post....

No survivors after a hot-air balloon carrying
at least 16 people crashes in Texas


By PETER HOLLEY | 9:15PM EDT - Saturday, July 30, 2016

The partial frame of a hot air balloon is visible above crops in a field as investigators comb the wreckage after it crashed near Lockhart, Texas. — Photograph: Ralph Barrera/Austin American-Statesman via Associated Press.
The partial frame of a hot air balloon is visible above crops in a field as investigators comb the wreckage after it crashed
near Lockhart, Texas. — Photograph: Ralph Barrera/Austin American-Statesman via Associated Press.


LLOCKHART, TEXAS — A hot-air balloon carrying at least 16 people caught on fire and crashed in central Texas on Saturday, and there did not appear to be any survivors, authorities said.

Authorities would not confirm the exact number of deaths, but Lynn Lunsford, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration, said the balloon was carrying at least 16 people, and the Caldwell County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement that it did not look as if anyone survived.

If 16 people were killed, it would be one of the worst such disasters, possibly the worst in U.S. history. The deadliest such disaster happened in February 2013, when a balloon flying over Luxor, Egypt, caught fire and plunged 1,000 feet to the ground, crashing into a sugar-cane field and killing at least 19 foreign tourists.

Saturday's crash happened at about 7:40 a.m. in a pasture near Lockhart, which is about 30 miles south of Austin.

Two officials familiar with the investigation into the crash said the craft was operated by Heart of Texas Hot Air Balloon Rides. The officials spoke Saturday on the condition that they not be named because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

Heart of Texas's website said it offers rides in the San Antonio, Houston and Austin areas. The operation does not appear to be registered with the state of Texas.

Caldwell County Sheriff Daniel C. Law told the Associated Press that it was the kind of situation where people can walk up and by a ticket, unlike an airplane, which would have a manifest.

The land near the crash site is mostly farmland, with corn crops and grazing cattle. Cutting through that farmland is a row of massive high-capacity transmission lines about four to five stories tall. The site of the crash appears to be right below the overhead lines, although authorities did not immediately provide further details about what happened.


Though isolated, the crash site is below a row of massive high-capacity transmission lines. — Photograph: Ralph Barrera/Austin American-Statesman via Associated Press.
Though isolated, the crash site is below a row of massive high-capacity transmission lines.
 — Photograph: Ralph Barrera/Austin American-Statesman via Associated Press.


Margaret Wylie, who lives about a quarter-mile from the crash site, told the Associated Press that she was letting her dog out on Saturday morning when she heard a “pop, pop, pop.”

“I looked around, and it was like a fireball going up,” she said, noting that the fireball was located under large power lines and almost high enough to reach the bottom of them.

Wylie, who called 911, said the weather seemed clear and that she frequently sees hot-air balloons in the area.

Two years ago, safety investigators recommended that the FAA impose greater oversight on commercial hot-air balloon operators, government documents show. The agency rejected those recommendations.

In a letter to FAA Administrator Michael Huerta in April 2014, the National Transportation Safety Board urged the FAA to require tour companies to get agency permission to operate and to make balloon operators subject to FAA safety inspections.

“The potential for a high number of fatalities in a single air tour balloon accident is of particular concern if air tour balloon operators continue to conduct operations under less stringent regulations and oversight,” then-NTSB Chairman Deborah Hersman wrote.

The FAA's Huerta responded that regulations were unnecessary because the risks were too low.

“Since the amount of ballooning is so low, the FAA believes the risk posed to all pilots and participants is also low given that ballooners understand the risks and general hazards associated with this activity,” Huerta responded last November.

The NTSB's Erik Grosof said on Saturday at a news conference that the agency has deemed the Texas crash to be a major accident and that a full investigation will begin on Sunday when more federal officials arrive.


Associated Press news story.

__________________________________________________________________________

More on this topic including an earlier story:

 • PHOTOGRAPH GALLERY: Photos from the scene after hot air balloon carrying at least 16 crashes in Texas

 • Morning Mix: No survivors after Texas hot air balloon crashes with 16 on board


https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/no-survivors-after-a-hot-air-balloon-carrying-at-least-16-people-crashes-in-texas/2016/07/30/a9cd3ea4-568a-11e6-88eb-7dda4e2f2aec_story.html

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« Reply #73 on: August 01, 2016, 12:45:46 pm »


from The Associated Press....

NTSB: Balloon hit power lines before crashing, killing 16

By WILL WEISSERT | 7:18PM EDT - Sunday, July 31, 2016

In this aerial photo, authorities investigate after a hot air balloon caught on fire and crashed near Lockhart, Texas. — Photograph: Rodolfo Gonzalez/Austin American-Statesman via Associated Press.
In this aerial photo, authorities investigate after a hot air balloon caught on fire and crashed near Lockhart, Texas.
 — Photograph: Rodolfo Gonzalez/Austin American-Statesman via Associated Press.


LOCKHART, TEXAS — A hot air balloon made contact with high-tension power lines before crashing into a pasture in Central Texas, killing all 16 on board, according to federal authorities who are investigating the worst such disaster in U.S. history.

A power line was tripped at 7:42 a.m. Saturday, and the first call to 911 came a minute later, National Transportation Safety Board member Robert Sumwalt said during a news conference. The crash site was near a row of high-tension power lines, and aerial photos showed an area of scorched land underneath. One witness described to The Associated Press seeing a “fireball” near the power lines.

The NTSB will look at all factors that might have played a role, including weather, but is concentrating on gathering “perishable evidence, the evidence that goes away with the passage of time,” Sumwalt said, noting some of that is witness statements that can fade with time.

“This wreckage will not be here more than another day or so,” he added.

The pilot was Skip Nichols, 49, said Alan Lirette, who identified Nichols as his best friend, roommate and boss. Lirette said he helped launch the balloon, which was carrying a total of 16 people, none of them children. The NTSB has not yet publicly identified the pilot or the passengers.

Matt Rowan and his wife, Sunday Rowan, were among those on board the hot air balloon. His brother, Josh Rowan, said that as the two prepared to take the balloon ride they texted family and posted on social media pictures of the balloon set up, the rising sun, them in the basket.

“It's a bit haunting now but I guess it was a bit of a play-by-play,” Josh Rowan told The Associated Press on Sunday.

He said the two, both 34, lived in San Antonio and just got married in February. “They were really happy and they were in love and they were really starting a life together,” he said.

The NTSB said the balloon was run by Heart of Texas Hot Air Balloon Rides. Nichols' Facebook page identifies himself as the chief pilot of that business, which does not appear to be registered with the state of Texas.

The passengers met the balloon operator in the San Marcos Wal-Mart parking lot at about 5:45 a.m. Saturday, and traveled to Fentress Texas Airpark. Ground crew members told the NTSB that they launched about 20 minutes after the expected 6:45 a.m. time, communicated with the balloon by cellphone and the pilot navigated with an iPad.

The balloon traveled about 8 miles from takeoff to crash, and the basket was found about three-quarters of a mile from the balloon material itself.

Caldwell County Sheriff Daniel Law said in a statement that NTSB and medical professionals have said identification of the victims will be “a long process.”

An online Federal Aviation Administration database said an Alfred G. Nichols of Chesterfield, Missouri, was medically certified to fly in 1996 and was rated a commercial pilot of lighter-than-air balloons on July 14th, 2010. The rating is limited to hot air balloons with an airborne heater. Missouri records also listed Nichols as the owner of Air Balloon Sports LLC, based from the same Chesterfield address as the FAA record.

Lirette said Nichols went by the first name of Skip. Speaking to The Associated Press from a house he shared with Nichols in Kyle, Lirette would not answer specific questions about the balloon's launch or its crash.

“That's the only thing I want to talk about, is that he's a great pilot,” Lirette said of Nichols. “There's going to be all kinds of reports out in the press and I want a positive image there too.”

Wendy Bartch, a former girlfriend of Nichols, told the Austin American-Statesman that he was “a good pilot and loved people,” was cautious about keeping passengers safe, and had been involved with hot air balloons for about two decades.

Philip Bryant of Ballooning Adventures of Texas in Richmond, which also does inspections and maintenance for other operators, said the balloon had “very good equipment, very new equipment.” Nichols brought his balloon into his inspection facility in May 2014 and was issued a one-year recertification, Bryant said. The manufacturer of Nichols' balloon mandates an annual inspection, he said, adding that he couldn't do it this year but believes Nichols took it to another inspector.

Bryant said Nichols told him he moved from the St. Louis area to Texas because there was less competition.

Numerous calls to Heart of Texas operations manager Sarah Nichols, 72, rang unanswered, and a woman in Missouri believed to be the pilot's sister did not return phone calls.

Heart of Texas' website said it offers rides in the San Antonio, Houston and Austin areas. The company's Facebook page has photos of a hot air balloon flying with a smiley face with sunglasses on it, people waving from a large basket on the ground and group selfies taken while aloft.

NTSB investigators will look at “three things — human, machine and environment,” Sumwalt reiterated on Sunday afternoon. The investigation will include the balloon's maintenance history and the weather at the time of the crash.

They also will look into whether the operator filed a passenger manifest before taking off, Sumwalt said.

Crews recovered 14 personal electronic devices, including cellphones, and iPad and three cameras, which will be sent to the NTSB's lab in Washington for investigation.

Margaret Wylie, who lives about a quarter-mile from the site, told The Associated Press she was letting her dog out when she heard a “pop, pop, pop” and saw what looked “like a fireball going up.”

Safety investigators recommended two years ago that the FAA impose greater oversight on commercial hot air balloon operators, government documents show. The FAA rejected those recommendations, and the NTSB classified the FAA's response as “open-unacceptable,” which means the safety board was not satisfied with it.

FAA spokesman Lynn Lunsford said it's difficult to say whether the Texas crash will cause the agency to reconsider NTSB's recommendations “until we've had a chance to gather and examine the evidence in this particular case.”

Saturday's crash was one of the worst hot air balloon accidents on record. In 2013, 19 people were killed and two were injured when a balloon caught fire over Luxor, Egypt, and plunged 1,000 feet.


Associated Press writers Jim Vertuno, Jamie Stengle in Dallas, Emily Schmall in Fort Worth, Texas, and Chad Day and Joan Lowy in Washington contributed to this report.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_HOT_AIR_BALLOON_CRASH_TEXAS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2016-07-31-19-18-37
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« Reply #74 on: August 01, 2016, 01:54:55 pm »


from the Wairarapa Times-Age....

EDITORIAL: Crash a tragic reminder

By SEAMUS BOYER | 10:06AM - Monday, August 01, 2016

I STILL get a twinge of sadness driving past Somerset Road, just north of Carterton.

Knowing the tragedy that took place there four years ago is hard to shake.

Eleven people lost their lives in a paddock when a hot air balloon they were travelling in hit powerlines and caught fire.

The aftermath is well known, and the repercussions for the passengers' families and the ballooning industry was enormous.

On Saturday another crash took place, this time in Texas, with eerily similar circumstances.

A hot air balloon carrying 16 people caught fire and crashed in a field, killing all onboard.

It took place near high-voltage power lines, at 7.40am.

The Carterton crash also happened on a summery Saturday, at 7.20am.

The Texas crash happened near the town of Lockhart, population 13,000 — no doubt a small, peaceful, rural town.

Just like Carterton.

I was the first reporter on the scene that January day in 2012, overhearing on arrival that there were no survivors.

I will never forget the faces of the victims' families on being told the terrible news.

For them, this new accident will bring back awful memories of that day.

That such a thing could happen in an industry which brings great happiness to its customers is heartbreaking.

Following the Carterton crash flowers piled up near the scene in a spontaneous tribute to those who had lost their lives.

The community response was one of shock and terrible sadness.

No doubt the Texas community at the heart of their tragedy will react in a similar fashion.

Commenting on the crash a spokesman for the Balloon Federation of North America said, rightly, that such events were rare.

“There are thousands of balloons that go up every year. This is unspeakably tragic, but it is rather unique.”

That may be so, but for all those affected by the Carterton crash, this new tragedy will be all too familiar.


http://times-age.co.nz/crash-tragic-reminder
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