Hot air ballooning balloon accidents are rare, according to statistics from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). The first clearly recorded instance of a balloon carrying passengers used hot air to generate buoyancy and was built by the brothers Joseph-Michel and Jacques-Etienne Montgolfier in Annonay, France. After experimenting with unmanned balloons and flights with animals, the first "tethered" balloon flight with humans on board took place on October 19, 1783 with the scientist Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier, the manufacture manager, Jean-Baptiste Réveillon and Giroud de Villette, at the "Folie Titon" in Paris. The first "free" flight with human passengers was on November 21,
2016 Lockhart hot air balloon crash 2016 Lockhart hot air balloon crash On July 30, 2016, sixteen people were killed when the hot air balloon they were riding in struck power lines, crashed and caught fire in the unincorporated community of Maxwell, near Lockhart, Texas, south of the state capital Austin. It is the deadliest ballooning disaster to ever occur in the United States. The aircraft involved was a Kubicek BB85Z hot air balloon, registration N2469L. The balloon was operated by the Heart of Texas Balloon Ride company, which served people in the Greater Austin area. The balloon departed from Fentress Airpark at 06:58 (11:58 UTC)