The Latest: Balloon pilot had record of DWI in Missouri
A Missouri police officer says the man who piloted the air balloon that crashed in Texas was arrested in 2000 on a felony driving while intoxicated charge and pleaded guilty to misdemeanor DWI in 2002.
The officer says that based on photographs he is confident the man arrested then is the pilot in the Texas crash on Saturday that killed 16 people.
The paper quoted the BBB as saying Nichols was on probation in Missouri for distribution, delivery or manufacturing a controlled substance and that when asked to respond, Nichols said, "I prefer to make no comment on that."
Federal officials say there is evidence that some part of the hot air balloon hit electrical wires before crashing, killing 16 on board.
The crash site was near a row of high-tension power lines, and aerial photos showed an area of scorched land underneath.
Robert Sumwalt with the National Transportation Safety Board said at a news conference that the balloon was operated by Heart of Texas Hot Air Balloon Rides.
Ground crew members told the NTSB that they didn't launch at the expected 6:45 a.m. time, but was delayed about 20 minutes.
A Texas hot air balloon business owner who also does inspections says the balloon that crashed, killing 16, had "very good equipment, very new equipment."
Records indicate that the apparent pilot of the hot air balloon that crashed in Central Texas and killed 16 was federally certified to fly balloons.
According to an online Federal Aviation Administration database, Alfred G. Nichols of Chesterfield, Missouri, was medically certified to fly in July 1996 and was rated a commercial pilot of lighter-than-air balloons on July 14, 2010.
Missouri records list Nichols as the owner of Air Balloon Sports LLC, based out of the same Chesterfield address as the FAA record.
Officials in Texas say the final death toll from the hot air balloon crash in Central Texas is 16 people.
The statement says that the National Transportation Safety Board and medical professionals have said identification of the victims will be "a long process."
Federal investigators have not publicly identified the pilot or the company that operated the balloon, but roommate and co-worker Alan Lirette told The Associated Press that Nichols piloted the balloon that crashed Saturday, killing at least 16 people.
A man who worked for the pilot of a hot air balloon says his boss was among the 16 people who died when it crashed.
Two officials familiar with the investigation who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak publicly have said Heart of Texas Hot Air Balloon Rides operated it.
A hot air balloon carrying 16 people caught on fire and crashed in Central Texas, and authorities say it appears no one survived.
Authorities would not confirm the exact number of deaths in Saturday's crash, but Lynn Lunsford with the Federal Aviation Administration said the balloon was carrying at least 16 people.