NTSB: Balloon pilot high on drugs when Texas crash killed 16
AUSTIN, Texas — The pilot in the deadliest hot air balloon crash in U.S. history was likely impaired by opioids and sedatives when he ignored weather warnings and flew the ride into a power line, investigators said yesterday.
Besides Valium and oxycodone, there was a high enough dosage of the overthe-counter antihistamine Benadryl in Alfred “Skip” Nichols’ system to mimic “the impairing effect of a blood-alcohol level” of a drunken driver, said Dr. Nicholas Webster, a National Transportation Safety Board medical officer.
In its findings on the July 2016 crash near Austin that killed 16 people, the NTSB scolded the Federal Aviation Administration for lax enforcement of the ballooning industry and recommended that balloon pilots submit to the same medical checks as airplane pilots.
Nichols, 49, had at least four prior convictions for drunken driving, though no alcohol was found in his system after the crash. Investigators said Nichols was told during a weather briefing before the flight that clouds may be a problem.
“We just fly in between them,” Nichols allegedly answered back. “We find a hole and we go.”
Visibility was 10 miles about two hours before the balloon took off but had diminished to just 2 miles before the ride began.
Investigators said Nichols told his psychiatrist three months earlier he was not using his antidepressant medication and the psychiatrist documented his mood as “not good.” Nichols was prescribed 13 medications and was also being treated for ADHD, which investigators say also was a contributing factor.