Year after deadly balloon crash, parents want change

Oct. 29--For the past year, Jan and Harvey Douglas have spent countless painful hours clearing a lifetime of belongings from their daughter-in-law and son's Victoria house.

"We work awhile, cry awhile," said Harvey Douglas, the 83-year-old father of Scott Douglas.

Scott, 47, and Laura Douglas, 46, were among 16 people killed July 30, 2016, in a hot air balloon crash near Lockhart. Since then, the elder Douglases have found themselves with the monumentally painful task of cleaning, clearing and preparing the house for sale.

They also are championing change in the regulation of commercial hot air balloons. Their efforts are gaining some traction in Congress.

"They keep saying time will heal, but in my case, it has done very little healing," Harvey Douglas said.

During the year after the crash, as Jan and Harvey Douglas tearfully emptied the home, National Transportation Safety Board officials worked to uncover the causes of the deadly balloon crash. Oct. 17, representatives of the federal agency presented their findings at a public meeting near Lockhart.

The hot air balloon operated by Alfred "Skip" Nichols, 49, came down through thick, low-hanging clouds and collided with high-voltage power lines before bursting into flames and plummeting to the ground. All aboard died.

When Scott Douglas failed to call his father to coordinate a fishing trip they had planned, his father became worried. Confirming his suspicions proved devastating.

"I just wanted to go into a room, lock the door and bawl my heart out," he said.

But the crash was hardly an unpreventable act of fate, NTSB officials said.

During the fatal balloon flight, Nichols, who suffered from depression and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, was under the influence of 13 medications, including drugs commonly sold under the trade names oxycontin, valium and benadryl. The chemical cocktail in his bloodstream likely impaired his decision-making, leading to a series of poor decisions by Nichols.

First, he made the decision to fly despite weather reports indicating poor visibility from fog and clouds. He also limited his options for landing by rising above the clouds, obscuring the ground from view. Finally, Nichols decided to land when the ground was not visible, resulting in his collision with power lines.

Additionally, Nichols had a criminal history rife with drug possession and DWI charges, earning him an aggravated offender status and revoked driver's license in Texas.

Jan and Harvey Douglas were quick to cast blame on not only Nichols but the Federal Aviation Administration, which is responsible for regulating balloon operators as well as pilots of other aircraft.

Unlike airplane pilots, balloon operators were exempted from medical certification by the FAA, said Dr. Nicholas Webster, NTSB medical examiner, during the Oct. 17 meeting.

That lack of oversight prevented FAA officials from realizing the danger Nichols posed to his passengers, Webster said.

And the Douglases agreed.

"That accident would never have happened. They would still be here today. Yeah, I'm ticked," Jan Douglas said.

HR 4102, a bipartisan bill introduced by Democratic U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett in conjunction with Republican Reps. Will Hurd and Blake Farenthold, would add more oversight. Although the bill has not passed the House and may never do so as an individual bill, Farenthold said, the bill could find life as a part of a larger measure.

If passed, the bill would require the FAA to apply the same medical certification requirements for balloon operators that already apply to pilots of other aircraft.

But Harvey Douglas has other concerns not addressed in the bill.

The father said he would like to see more strict insurance requirements for balloon operators and their companies. And the crash site should receive a memorial or marker, he said.

Farenthold said he would consider addressing those issues, although he admitted his politics mean he was "reluctant to force people to buy things."

During recent visits to the crash site, which is on Caldwell County property, the Douglases brought a weed trimmer to clear and manicure the overgrown area.

"I was at the hospital when Scott got his first breath on earth, and out there is where he had his last breath," Harvey Douglas said. "We'd like to visit there just to meditate to think about the life of Scott and how much we enjoyed having him."

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