LOCHHART, Texas, Dec. 10 (UPI) -- The pilot of a fatal hot-air balloon crash in Texas in July was on a cocktail of prohibited drugs during the flight and had a history of drug and alcohol-related offenses, the National Transportation Safety Board said in a hearing about the crash Friday.
Alfred "Skip" Nichols, 49, had seven FAA-banned drugs in his system, including the painkiller oxycodone and the sedative valium, when he took off from Lockhart, Texas, in the early morning hours of July 30 with 15 passengers, the NTSB said. Everyone aboard the balloon, including Nichols, died when it hit electrical transmission lines and crashed into a pasture.