Newlyweds Among 16 Victims of Texas Hot Air Balloon Crash 
 
 Kin Man Hui / The San Antonio Express-News / AP 
 
 RELATED VIDEO: Fatalities Reported In Texas Hot Air Balloon Crash 
 
 A newlywed couple is among the 16 victims of a deadly a hot air balloon crash near Lockhart, Texas.Sunday and Matt Rowan were married six months ago, Brent Jones, the father of Sunday's 5-year-old son, told CNN The hot air balloon ride, which turned deadly after the balloon crashed into power lines on Saturday, was a birthday gift from Sunday to her husband, Jones said."Sunday was messaging her mom before getting on the balloon. Soon after takeoff, she stopped all communication," he said. "It's hard, but I want everyone to understand how great our lives were together and how amazing these two people are."Matt Rowan's brother told NBC News that the victim had recently begun a new job as an army hospital burns trial unit chief."He was doing some amazing work and research. He felt like a lot of the stuff he was doing would have benefits for soldier and other service members who had been injured by burns," Joshua Rowan said.A volleyball teammate of Matt Rowan's had received a text from him on Friday saying he would be late for a tournament because of the air balloon ride, which he said had "been rescheduled a dozen times." The last text Matt sent to his teammates was a picture from the ride above the ground.CNN reports the pilot of the hot air balloon was identified as Alfred "Skip" Nicholas, according to Alan Lirette, the ground crew supervisor for Heart of Texas Hot Air Balloon Rides.Witness Margaret Wylie told the Associated Press that she was taking her dog out Saturday morning when she heard a "pop, pop, pop.""I looked around and it was like a fireball going up," she said.Safety concerns are now being raised following the deadliest hot air balloon accident in United States history.The former chair of the National Transportation Safety Board, Deborah Hersman, urged the FAA in 2014 to address "operational deficiencies" in hot air balloon activities after several incidents, including one in Egypt that killed 21 people onboard, resulted in injuries and one death, according to a letter published on the NTSB's website.Hersman recommended commercial balloon operators be required to acquire and maintain letters of authorization to hold air tour flights and to give passengers "a similar level of safety oversight as passengers of air tour airplane and helicopter operations."Lynn Lunsford, a spokeswoman for the FAA, told NBC News that it was "too early to say" whether the FAA would reconsider the NTSB recommendations "until we've had a chance to gather and examine the evidence in this particular case."According to NBC News, the NTSB member Robert Sumwalt said Sunday that investigators would be looking at three things to determine the cause of the fatal incident: "the human, the machine and the environment." ||||| Play Facebook 
 
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 A hot air balloon that crashed in Texas, killing all 16 people on board, likely hit power lines before it plummeted to the ground, the National Transportation Safety Board said Sunday. 
 
 A fire broke out on the balloon but it was not clear whether this happened before or after it hit the electrical wires near the town of Lockhart on Saturday, NTSB board member Robert Sumwalt said. 
 
 The balloon's material was discovered about three-quarters of a mile from the basket, where all of the victims' bodies were also found, Sumwalt added. The balloon had traveled about 8 miles before falling to the pasture below, he said. 
 
 Sumwalt said it was cloudy at the time of takeoff, which was delayed about 20 minutes, but he could not say if weather played a role. 
 
 Investigators have gathered 14 of the victims' recording devices — including cellphones, cameras and an iPad — and hope to piece together what happened. Sumwalt asked that any witnesses also turn over any videos or pictures they may have taken before the crash. 
 
 Gathering other evidence would be a sort of race against time he noted, since investigators were delayed by weather in getting to the site, and most physical evidence will be tarnished within days. "The wreckage will not be here more than another day or so," he said. 
 
 "We're looking at operation of balloon, pilot, and company that operated the balloon," Sumwalt said, identifying the operating company as Heart of Texas Hot Air Balloon Rides. 
 
 He said the pilot — Skip Nichols — was certified to fly hot air balloons, and the NTSB would be looking at the company's inspection records. 
 
 Nichols was identified in a statement from his company, Heart of Texas Hot Air Balloon Rides. 
 
 "The horrific crash near Lockhart, Texas has taken from us our owner and Chief Pilot, Skip Nichols, as well as 15 passengers, all of whom saw what was planned to be a special day turn into an unspeakable tragedy," the company said in a statement. The company has suspended operations. 
 
 Heart of Texas Hot Air Balloon Rides has a Better Business Bureau rating of D+ and a Yelp rating of 1.5 stars, mostly due to complaints about canceled and rescheduled flights. 
 
 Nichols was also the registered owner of Missouri-based Air Balloon Sports LLC., which features photos of balloons on their site that are similar to balloons featured on Heart of Texas' site. 
 
 The NTSB had determined that the type of balloon that crashed Saturday has been involved in at least one other accident since 2011, Sumwalt said. 
 
 In all, the authority has recorded 60 hot-air balloon accidents — six of them fatal — since 2011. Saturday's crash is the deadliest of its type in the U.S. 
 
 The Caldwell County Sheriff's said identifying the 16 victims would be "a long process" but some family members of the victims have already confirmed their identities. 
 
 Joshua Rowan told NBC News that his brother, 34-year-old Matt Rowan, and his sister-in-law, Sunday Rowan, were on the doomed flight and would be "incredibly missed." 
 
 Sunday and Matt Rowan, both 34, were killed in Saturday's balloon accident in Texas. Courtesy Joshua Rowan 
 
 The couple had been recently married, and Matt Rowan had just started a new job as an army hospital burns-trial unit chief. 
 
 "He was doing some amazing work and research," his brother said. "He felt like a lot of the stuff he was doing would have benefits for soldier and other service members who had been injured by burns." 
 
 The couple from San Antonio "was so happy together," he added. "They were trying to a grow their family. It makes the timing of it even more horrific." 
 
 Matt Rowan sent a text message to a friend on his volleyball team Friday night saying he'd be late to a tournament because he was taking a hot air balloon ride. Rowan said he didn't expect would interfere with the game because it had "been rescheduled a dozen times." 
 
 The last text Rowan sent to his teammates was a picture from the air. 
 
 In April 2014, the NTSB recommended that the Federal Aviation Administration bolster ballooning regulations in the U.S., warning of "the potential for a high number of fatalities in a single air tour balloon accident." 
 
 Passenger Matt Rowan sent this photo from inside the balloon to a Facebook group at 7:29 a.m. local time. It was the last time the group heard from him. Matt Rowan 
 
 The FAA at the time rejected the suggestions, saying ballooning risks were low. 
 
 Sumwalt said Sunday the FAA's response was deemed by the NTSB to be "unacceptable." 
 
 Three people were killed in May of 2014 when a hot air balloon hit a power line, exploded and crashed in eastern Virginia. 
 
 Lynn Lunsford, a spokeswoman for the FAA, told NBC News on Sunday that it was "too early to say" whether the FAA would reconsider the NTSB recommendations "until we've had a chance to gather and examine the evidence in this particular case." ||||| Kyle, Texas (CNN) Part of the hot air balloon that crashed in Texas hit power lines when it went down, an NTSB spokesman said Sunday after investigators arrived at the accident scene in dusty pastureland south of Austin. 
 
 All 16 people aboard the balloon -- 15 passengers and the pilot -- were killed in Saturday's crash. 
 
 It's not clear what part of the balloon hit the lines, spokesman Robert Sumwalt said. It's also unclear whether the fire that broke out on the balloon happened before or after the collision, Sumwalt said. 
 
 The investigation will look at three main factors to determine the cause of the crash: the balloon, its operators and the environment, Sumwalt said. 
 
 He said investigators are "trying to nail down as best we can" whether fog was a factor. Though it was foggy after the accident, Sumwalt said they don't yet know whether there was fog at the time of the crash. 
 
 Sixteen victims 
 
 Friends of some of the victims identified them Sunday. They include the pilot, Alfred "Skip" Nichols, and newlyweds Matt and Sunday Rowan. 
 
 The Rowans got married in February, said Brent Jones, the father of Sunday's 5-year-old son, Jett. "Sunday was a very social person," Jones said. "They have hundreds and hundreds of friends." 
 
 Matt and Sunday Rowan 
 
 Alfred "Skip" Nichols 
 
 Sunday Rowan bought the balloon flight for her husband as a birthday gift last year and it had taken them a while to schedule it, Jones said. 
 
 "Sunday was messaging her mom before getting on the balloon. Soon after takeoff, she stopped all communication," he said. 
 
 "It's hard, but I want everyone to understand how great our lives were together and how amazing these two people are." 
 
 Alan Lirette, the ground crew supervisor for the balloon operator, Heart of Texas Hot Air Balloon Rides, described Nichols as his "best friend, boss and roommate." 
 
 Philip Bryant, a balloon pilot, told CNN he knew Nichols. 
 
 "I knew him to be a safe, competent pilot," Bryant said. "He has done this for a very long time." 
 
 Joe and Tresa Shafer Owens were also killed, said family friend Tricia James, who set up a GoFundMe page to raise money for their funeral. 
 
 James told CNN she worked with Tresa Owens for more than two decades at a preschool in Katy, about two hours away from where the balloon trip began. 
 
 "They adored their children and grandchildren, and loved nothing more than spending time with them," James wrote on the fundraising site. 
 
 "Joe worked hard (to) provide for his family and was always willing to lend an extra hand to anyone in need. Tresa had a long-time career at TigerLand Preschool and made an amazing difference in the lives of the hundreds of children she cared for, their families and also her co-workers and friends. 
 
 "So quick to offer up a prayer or a friendly greeting, they will forever be missed by the people who loved them," James wrote. 
 
 The NTSB said the identities of all the victims would be made public later by local authorities. 
 
 Electronic devices recovered 
 
 The FBI has found 14 personal electronic devices from those aboard the balloon, Sumwalt said. They include cell phones, one iPad, and three cameras. 
 
 The cameras, he said, are destroyed, but he said he hopes NTSB lab technicians can recover the images. 
 
 "They have been able to do miraculous things" in the past to recover information from destroyed and damaged devices, Sumwalt said. 
 
 Nichols used an iPad to navigate and a cell phone to communicate with the ground crew. 
 
 Some of those aboard posted Twitter images that investigators will examine as well, Sumwalt said. 
 
 JUST WATCHED Deadliest hot air balloon crashes Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Deadliest hot air balloon crashes 01:29 
 
 A sunrise trip 
 
 The passengers assembled for the ride at 5:45 a.m. in a Walmart parking lot and rode in a van to the launch site, Sumwalt said. 
 
 The planned launch time for the one-hour flight was at sunrise, at 6:49 a.m., but Sumwalt said for some reason it was delayed. 
 
 "We will interview the ground crew (Monday) to see if we can find out if there was any particular reason why the launch was delayed by as much as 20 minutes," he said. "We want to find out if there was anything going on there." 
 
 NTSB investigators examine the downed balloon. 
 
 The utility company responsible for the lines reported they were tripped at 7:42 a.m. The first 911 call came in approximately one minute later, Sumwalt said. 
 
 The gondola, the basket that carries passengers, came to rest below the power lines, in a field, he said. The actual balloon, called an envelope, landed 3/4 mile away. 
 
 Clashes over regulations 
 
 Saturday's crash is the most fatal hot air balloon crash in U.S. history, according to NTSB figures. 
 
 Previously, the country's deadliest hot air balloon crash was a 1993 accident in Colorado that killed six people. 
 
 In 2013, 19 people died in a hot air balloon crash in Egypt , near the ancient city of Luxor. That was the world's deadliest hot air balloon accident in at least 20 years. 
 
 The NTSB has expressed concern about safety regulations in hot air balloon activities, but the Federal Aviation Administration, which sets regulations for manned balloons, hasn't acted on the NTSB's recommendations, said Deborah Hersman, the board's former chairwoman. 
 
 She said she urged the FAA in a 2014 letter to address "operational deficiencies" in the industry after several incidents resulted in injuries and one death. 
 
 Hersman cited accidents in 2007, 2008 and 2013, according to the letter, which also urged more stringent regulations and oversight. 
 
 "The FAA has not responded in an affirmative way," she told CNN's Sara Ganim on Saturday. "The NTSB (has) classified that recommendation 'open-unacceptable,' which means they really haven't done what the NTSB asked." 
 
 Hersman added, "Unfortunately in aviation, they say that the lessons are often written in blood, and it takes more than one event for an action to occur." 
 
 NTSB recommendations 
 
 This file photo shows a large-capacity balloon gondola carrying tourists in Kenya. 
 
 Given that some balloon gondolas can carry more than 20 people per flight, safety deficiencies mean a single accident could result in a "high number of fatalities," Hersman said in the 2014 letter, referring to the 2013 accident in Egypt. 
 
 In the letter, Hersman recommended requiring commercial balloon operators to have letters of authorization to hold tour flights and to give passengers a similar level of safety oversight as those on airplane and helicopter tours. 
 
 The FAA responded to the NTSB request last year, saying the proposed letters of authorization "would not result in a significantly higher level of operational safety." 
 
 The NTSB fired back in a 2016 statement, saying the FAA's reply was unacceptable. 
 
 It is unclear whether Heart of Texas Hot Air Balloon Rides implemented any of the NTSB's recommended measures. 
 
 Twenty-five balloon accidents, resulting in four fatalities and 25 serious injuries, have occurred since Hersman's 2014 letter and the last warning issued by the NTSB in March 2016, according to the exchange posted on its website. 
 
 The number does not take into account the fatalities from Saturday's crash. ||||| Just One More Thing... 
 
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 Close ||||| Though officials had not released the names of those killed in Saturday’s balloon crash near Lockhart, friends and family were writing poignant posts on social media Sunday about loved ones purported to be on the tragic ride. 
 
 The information emerging on Facebook indicates that the people on the balloon ride were all part of small groups, rather than a large party. The pilot of the balloon, Alfred “Skip” Nichols, was one of the 16 people who died in the crash. 
 
 An employer and a friend of Holly Huckabee, a Houston paralegal, both said Sunday that they believed she was killed in the crash after Huckabee’s daughter posted on Facebook that Huckabee had perished. Huckabee’s daughter, Leslie Huckabee, could not be reached for comment Sunday. 
 
 ALSO READ: Investigators recover cellphones from crash site, hope to find clues 
 
 Holly Huckabee had taken a photo of the basket of the hot air balloon and posted it on her Facebook page before the ride started, said Sherrie Travers, a friend and former employer of Huckabee’s. 
 
 + This photo of the hot air balloon was taken by Holly Huckabee on Saturday morning shortly before the fatal flight. Huckabee ... read more × 
 
 Huckabee was a founding member of the River United Methodist Church in Katy, Travers said. 
 
 “She was a godly woman, a woman of great faith, and she had a beautiful voice,” Travers said. “She and her sister sang at her mother’s funeral, and you would have thought it was the angels singing.” 
 
 Huckabee had a “big smile” and was always willing to help out other people, Travers said. 
 
 + Alfred “Skip” Nichols × 
 
 Huckabee, 50, had been looking forward to going on the balloon ride and had even asked if she could leave work early Friday to get there, said her boss, Houston attorney John Grubb. 
 
 “It’s something she had talked about for quite a long time,” Grubb said. “She liked adventure.” 
 
 He said Huckabee is survived by a daughter, a son and two grandsons. 
 
 + Matt and Sunday Rowan × 
 
 Huckabee had worked for Grubb for about 10 years, he said. “She was very low-key, very easy to get along with and very accomplished,” he said. Grubb said he sent Huckabee a text message at 11:30 a.m. Saturday but never received a reply. 
 
 “She always returned my texts unless she was in church or asleep,” Grubb said. Huckabee was director of the paralegal division of the State Bar of Texas, according to her LinkedIn page. 
 
 A couple also reportedly perished on the balloon, according to a friend. 
 
 THE SCENE: Photos from balloon crash site 
 
 Friends and relatives never heard from Matt and Sunday Rowan, and Matt Rowan did not show up for a volleyball tournament in San Antonio at 11 a.m. Saturday, said his friend and fellow organizer Cassidy Villegan. The Rowans were married in February, Villegan said. 
 
 Matt Rowan is the chief of clinical trials in burns and trauma at the U.S. Army Institute for Surgical Research, according to his LinkedIn page. 
 
 Phil Ferraz, who has worked with Nichols as a crew chief at Heart of Texas Balloon Rides for three years, said Sunday that the balloon’s pilot was always concerned about safety. Ferraz said that he saw Nichols two days before the fatal flight and that the two had been laughing and in good spirits. 
 
 Even though he did not see Nichols on Saturday morning before takeoff, Ferraz said, he couldn’t imagine anything abnormal. He said Nichols was never off his game. 
 
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 “Skip was a great man. A man who if you didn’t have a place to stay would offer his bed, if you didn’t have food he’d give you his,” Ferraz said. “He was the best pilot I knew, and I’ve met plenty.” 
 
 Ferraz had flown several times in the balloon that crashed, as well as in Nichols’ five other balloons. He said sometimes they would be ready to launch and Nichols would cancel the flight because it was too dangerous. Ferraz said Nichols was a man who was passionate about flying – Nichols’ father was a pilot in Vietnam. 
 
 “He loved seeing the first flight through someone else’s eyes,” Ferraz said. ||||| KYLE, TEXAS - The skies over Hays County won't be the same. 
 
 "I would see it all the time in San Marcos, you see it all around here," said Kyle resident Jimmy Alvarez. 
 
 "It" is a hard to miss hot air balloon donned with a smiley face from Heart of Texas Hot Air Balloon Rides, owned by Alfred "Skip" Nichols who was also the pilot. 
 
 "The first time I saw him he was flying in that balloon," remembered Alvarez. "He was pretty close, up high, and this house was up for sale and he yelled out, he goes 'How you doing down there?' And I said 'Oh, I'm doing pretty good.' And I guess he saw that sign and well next thing you know he's moving in there and I went to go introduce myself." 
 
 "He was a real nice person, real nice person, you know," Alvarez added, "real happy person." 
 
 Now, neighbors are learning of Skip's tragic death. Department of Public Safety officials say a Heart of Texas Hot Air Balloon Rides balloon carrying 16 people crashed Saturday morning near Lockhart and there were no survivors. Pilots and friends close to Skip say he was piloting that balloon. 
 
 "Just a really sad day," said Alvarez. 
 
 While neighbors only knew Skip and his roommate and business partner, known to them as Buddy, for a few months, they say the men wasted no time getting to know them and showing off their prized balloons. 
 
 
 
 "He had approximately three balloons is what he told me. And his biggest one had that 16-people basket. And he showed me and it was huge, it was big," said Alvarez. "He's offered to get me up in the balloon." 
 
 
 
 "They took me over and introduced me to all the trailers and the functions, the tanks, the balloon itself how, how they coordinated with each one another during the rides," said neighbor George Sheridan, Sr. " I have five kids of my own so you know it got me a little excited." 
 
 Alvarez said he spoke with Skip's roommate Saturday afternoon. 
 
 "I took him some food and he's really upset," said Alvarez. "It's hard, it's really hard." 
 
 Sheridan is also offering his support. 
 
 "Now I want to reach out and help out because they, they were nothing but good to me," Sheridan said. "If Buddy's [reading] this tell him to come over and see me and I'll offer any kind of assistance that he needs." 
 
 Neighbors, who's conversations have now turned into cherished memories of Skip and his balloons. 
 
 (© 2016 KVUE) ||||| Nixon resident, Lisa Peralez reads a prayer at the site of Saturday's hot air balloon crash near Lockhart, Texas, Sunday, July 31, 2016. A hot air balloon made contact with high-tension power lines before... (Associated Press) 
 
 LOCKHART, Texas (AP) — The pilot of a hot air balloon that crashed in Texas and killed all 16 people aboard had been arrested in Missouri for driving while intoxicated in 2000, police said, and the Better Business Bureau there had warned consumers about doing business with him after complaints about his balloon touring company. 
 
 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, speaking to the AP 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." 
 
 Federal investigators said the balloon, which was operated by Heart of Texas Hot Air Balloon Rides, hit high-tension power lines before crashing into a pasture in Central Texas early Saturday morning. One witness who lives a quarter-mile from the site, Margaret Wylie, said she heard popping sounds and saw what looked "like a fireball going up." 
 
 Authorities have not publicly named Nichols or the victims of the crash. They said identification of the bodies could be a long process. 
 
 There were reports of foggy weather in the area 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. 
 
 Ground crew members told investigators that they launched about 20 minutes after the expected 6:45 a.m. time. The balloon traveled about 8 miles from takeoff to crash, and the basket was found about three-quarters of a mile from the balloon itself. 
 
 National Transportation Safety Board investigators recovered 14 personal electronic devices, including cellphones, an iPad and three cameras from the crash site, which will be sent to a lab in Washington for analysis. 
 
 NTSB member Robert Sumwalt said the immediate focus of the investigation would be gathering witness testimony, starting with the ground crew on Monday. 
 
 "They've been busy trying to collect the maintenance records for us," Sumwalt said of the ground crew, adding that the records may be in Houston. 
 
 Sumwalt said the pilot had a commercial certificate to fly a hot air balloon and those records are being gathered from the Federal Aviation Administration. 
 
 Asked if the pilot had any criminal history, Sumwalt said it was too early in the investigation to know. 
 
 But a Missouri police officer told The Associated Press that Nichols was arrested there in 2000 on a felony driving while intoxicated charge and pleaded guilty to misdemeanor DWI in 2002. 
 
 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, who spoke to the AP on condition that he not be identified because he was not authorized to comment publicly. 
 
 The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported in 2008 that the Better Business Bureau had warned consumers about doing business with Nichols, the third time since 2000 that Nichols had gotten an unsatisfactory record for not responding to complaints. The paper quoted the BBB as saying Nichols was on probation in Missouri for distribution, delivery or manufacturing a controlled substance and that when asked to respond, Nichols said, "I prefer to make no comment on that."
– Authorities have confirmed that 15 passengers and the pilot died Saturday in what is believed to be the deadliest hot air balloon crash in American history. The victims of the crash near Lockhart in central Texas include newlyweds Matt and Sunday Rowan, who were married just six months ago, People reports. Sunday, mother of a 5-year-old son, bought the balloon ride as a birthday present for her husband. "Sunday was messaging her mom before getting on the balloon," her former partner says. "Soon after takeoff, she stopped all communication." Investigators believe the balloon hit power lines. In other coverage: Matt Rowan's brother tells NBC that the 34-year-old professor had just started working as chief of clinical trials at an Army hospital burn unit. "He was doing some amazing work and research," Joshua Rowan says. "He felt like a lot of the stuff he was doing would have benefits for soldiers and other service members who had been injured by burns." The Heart of Texas Hot Air Balloon Rides pilot has been identified as Alfred "Skip" Nichols, 49. "I knew him to be a safe, competent pilot," a fellow balloon pilot tells CNN. "He has done this for a very long time." The other victims were all in small groups rather than large parties, reports the Austin American-Statesman, which profiles several more of the deceased passengers. KVUE reports that Nichols was the owner of the balloon company as well as the pilot. Neighbors describe him as a "real happy guy" whose balloon was a familiar sight. NBC News reports that investigators are looking into several possible causes of the crash, including cloudy weather that delayed the takeoff by around 20 minutes. An NTSB spokesman says investigators have gathered 14 recording devices used by passengers and will be searching them for clues. The American-Statesman reports that investigators say the basket was found around three-quarters of a mile away from the balloon, suggesting it was severed when the balloon hit power lines. The AP reports that Nichols had a checkered history in Missouri before he moved to Texas five years ago: Police say he was arrested in 2000 on a felony driving while intoxicated charge. In 2002, he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor DWI. He used to own a hot air balloon touring company in St. Louis County, which was the subject of a warning from the Better Business Bureau after repeated customer complaints.