Investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board are expected to arrive in Central Texas on Sunday to look into a hot air balloon crash that killed 16 people.
Margaret Wylie went to bed Saturday night thinking about what she witnessed Saturday morning. The balloon crashed in a pasture by her home near Lockhart.
"And I looked off and the next thing I knew you saw a big fireball go up," said Wylie.
Aerial video showed a charred basket on the ground at the crash site. The canopy was stretched out nearby.
A roommate confirmed to NBC DFW that the pilot of the balloon is Skip Nichols, a man with 30 years of experience. He ran a company called "Heart of Texas Hot Air Balloon Rides."
The names of two passengers, 34 year olds Matt and Sunday Rowan, were confirmed by Matt Rowan's older brother Joshua Rowan.
Authorities have not yet confirmed the identities of the pilot or victims.
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There is video circulating that showed the same balloon landing problem free in 2015.
It's still unclear whether high voltage power lines above the crash site or weather played a role.
Thunderstoms in Washington, D.C. delayed the arrival of federal investigators in Central Texas until Sunday afternoon.
The crash may be the deadliest hot air balloon incident in U.S. history, although experts said the mode of transportation has a good safety record.
But two years ago, the National Transportation Safety Board urged the FAA to require tour companies to get agency permission to operate, and to make balloon operators subject to FAA safety inspections.
"The potential for a high number of fatalities in a single air tour balloon accident is of particular concern if air tour balloon operators continue to conduct operations under less stringent regulations and oversight," then-NTSB Chairman Deborah Hersman wrote to FAA Chairman Michael Huerta. She pointed to a 2013 commercial balloon tour accident in Egypt that resulted in 19 deaths.
Although "such an accident has yet to occur" in the U.S., Hersman wrote at the time, "based on the number of recurring accidents in the United States involving similar safety issues, the NTSB believes that air tour balloon operators should be subject to greater regulatory oversight."
