Medical Certificates Required for Balloon Pilots Carrying Paying Passengers

The NTSB has published the new medical rules for commercial hot air balloon pilots, codifying a change brought on by the Lockhart, Texas accident of 2016. 

The new rule requires pilots of hot air balloons carrying paying passengers to hold a medical certificate just like fixed and rotary-wing aircraft pilots. The recommendation was made following an NTSB investigation into the Lockhart incident, where a balloon carrying 16 people crashed into nearby power lines. All aboard perished in the incident. NTSB investigators found that the pilot had an extensive history of drug and alcohol convictions going back more than 3 decades - a fact that went unknown because the FAA had no chance to identify the convictions through the medical certification process.

“Though this is a promising step, I remain concerned about passenger safety on commercial balloon flights,” said NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy. “We’ve seen the deadly consequences of unscrupulous air tour operators time and again. That is why we need strong FAA oversight of all revenue passenger-carrying flight operations.”

That statement might send shivers down the spine of some pilots, as few in the industry are ever very excited for additional regulations on top of the considerable number in effect already. But the NTSB has been concerned over the "safety of various revenue passenger-carrying operations, including sightseeing flights conducted in hot air balloons, helicopters and other aircraft as well as parachute jump flights," as stated in their recent release. 

Pilots seem to largely be free from any burdensome changes along those lines, but operators might grit their teeth. "These operations," the NTSB said, "are not subject to the same maintenance, airworthiness and operational requirements as other commercial flight operations." The board references a report that describes the 

FMI: www.ntsb.gov