Pilot had been arrested for DWI in 2000

The pilot of a hot air balloon that crashed in Texas and killed all 16 people aboard was arrested in Missouri in 2000 for driving while intoxicated, and the Better Business Bureau warned consumers about doing business with a balloon touring company he used to operate in that state.

Authorities haven’t publicly named anyone killed in the worst such disaster in US history, saying it could take a while to identify the bodies. But Alfred “Skip” Nichols, 49, was identified as the pilot by his friend and roommate Alan Lirette, who said that Nichols was a good pilot.

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

Authorities said the balloon, which was operated by Heart of Texas Hot Air Balloon Rides, hit high-tension power lines before crashing into a pasture on Saturday morning near Lockhart. Margaret Wylie, who lives near the site, said she heard pop ping sounds and saw what looked “like a fireball going up”.

National Transportation Safety Board investigators are trying to determine what caused the crash, said board member Robert Sumwalt. He said the pilot was licensed to fly the balloon, but that it was too soon to say whether he had a criminal history.

A Missouri police officer, though, told the AP that Nichols was arrested there in 2000 on a felony driving while intoxicated charge. The case was resolved two years later when he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor version of the charge.

The officer said that based on photographs, he is confident the man arrested in Missouri is the same man who piloted the Texas balloon. Nichols had lived in Missouri before moving to Texas. He was known as “Skip” in both places and owned a hot air balloon touring company in St. Louis County at the time, said the officer.

There were reports of foggy weather in the area of the crash around the time of the flight. At least two of the passengers, Matt Rowan and his wife Sunday Rowan, posted photos on social media of the preparations, the early morning sunrise and themselves in the basket of the balloon a short time before the crash.