Austin American-Statesman: In FAA bill, U.S. House demands medical certificate for balloonists

Aiming to prevent further tragedies similar to the fatal hot air balloon crash that killed 16 people near Lockhart in 2016, an Austin congressman won passage of legislation Friday in the U.S. House that would require balloon operators to obtain a medical certificate.

In October, the National Transportation Safety Board had found that the Federal Aviation Administration's refusal to require balloon operators to obtain a medical certificate contributed to the Caldwell County crash. The wide-ranging FAA bill that passed Friday includes an amendment by U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, that ends the exemption.

"The FAA should have corrected this long ago," Doggett said this week as he introduced his amendment. "Now with adoption of this amendment, I am hopeful that no other family will ever suffer the same horror as this tragedy near Lockhart."

The safety board concluded that a cocktail of prescription drugs, including oxycodone, Valium and enough Benadryl to approximate the effects of drunken driving, contributed to pilot Alfred "Skip" Nichols' pattern of poor decision-making. Safety board officials said Nichols' depression and ADHD also might have played a role.

Since the crash, the issue of medical certificates, which are designed to ensure pilots are physically fit to fly, has united lawmakers across the political spectrum. After the federal safety board in October recommended that the FAA require medical checks for commercial balloon pilots — as it does for helicopter and airplane pilots — both Doggett and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, issued statements in support of the safety board's recommendation.

Medical checks are designed to uncover the use of prohibited medications, potentially impairing medical conditions and any history of driving while intoxicated. Nichols had a lengthy criminal history involving drunken driving and drug convictions that he never disclosed to the FAA.

Countries such as England, Canada and Australia require such certificates for balloon pilots.

But the FAA, which said in October it would "carefully consider" its sister agency's recommendation, had sent signals that it planned to resist calls for greater balloon pilot oversight.

In October, for example, the agency, which for years has rejected the safety board's calls for better balloon oversight, issued a news release praising an industry-led, voluntary safety program developed by the Balloon Federation of America as something that will "enhance safety and professionalism, and allow consumers to be better informed before they choose a commercial balloon ride operator."

In October, National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Robert Sumwalt called it "sad" that the FAA was putting safety oversight in the hands of an industry group and not providing the same amount of regulation for balloon pilots that it does for helicopter and airplane pilots.

"I'm disappointed the FAA appears to be shirking its responsibility," Sumwalt said.

The legislation now moves to the U.S. Senate.

Doggett on Thursday said "only legislative action by us will address this problem."