ST. LOUIS _ Eight years ago, the Better Business Bureau issued its third warning within a decade to consumers: Beware of booking hot air balloon flights with Alfred "Skip" Nichols.
Nichols, 49, who was piloting the balloon that crashed in central Texas on Saturday, killing him and 15 passengers, had been a source of nearly 50 complaints in the St. Louis region going back to at least 1998.
"Several area consumers have complained that they had scheduled flights cancelled, difficulty rescheduling flights, sometimes over the course of years, and the company failed to provide refunds and was extremely difficult to contact," said a July 15, 2008, press release from the BBB, referring to Air Balloon Sports.
The BBB also warned in 2008 that "Nichols is currently on probation with the Missouri Department of Corrections for distribution, delivery or manufacturing of a controlled substance. He also has been arrested several times, and sentenced to jail at least twice, for alcohol-related driving infractions."
Nichols, who lived in Chesterfield, moved to Texas several years ago. Online records show DUI arrests from 1988 to 2007 made by the Missouri Highway Patrol and the Kirkwood, Des Peres and Town and Country police departments. Guilty pleas were entered in each case, court records show. Nichols' Missouri driver's license has been revoked since 1999, according to the state Department of Revenue. It was suspended for the first time in 1985, reinstated in 1986, revoked again in 1997 and reinstated in 1999. That same year, however, he refused to take a blood-alcohol test and his license has been revoked ever since. Nichols would not have been eligible for a Missouri driver's license until 2020.
When Nichols was identified as the pilot, Carroll and Mark Brcic of south St. Louis County began reliving the evening of July 13, 2009. That's when the couple and their two children, a daughter, 19, and son, 21, were 30 minutes into what was to have been an hourlong sunset flight with Nichols and four other passengers. Nichols announced they were out of fuel, the couple said.
The balloon had risen to at least 500 feet, but that lasted only a few minutes, Mark said. Most of the time, they were hovering just above the tree line.
"He told us we need to bend our knees and we are going down now," Carroll said.
"We dropped about 80 feet, from the top of the trees down to the ground," Mark said. The group was jostled about, and there were no serious injuries. But Carroll was later treated for a neck injury. As the medical bills mounted, the Brcics hired a lawyer and found out about the pilot's criminal background and that Nichols was driving on a revoked license. The night of the flight, Nichols picked up the passengers from a Steak 'n Shake parking lot at Interstate 44 and Highway 141 and drove them in his van to a field where they began their flight.
The Brcics sued Nichols, eventually settling out of court.
"This wasn't for the money. We just wanted him to be accountable for what happened," said Carroll, who paid $750 for the family's balloon ride. But they never got an apology. In fact, when a crew from the Eureka Fire Protection District showed up after they had been in the woods for about three hours, "he tried to make light of the whole thing," offering to open champagne typically offered after a successful flight, she said.
"I'm like 'are you kidding me' "? Carroll said.
The BBB had long been warning consumers about Nichols and the hot air balloon businesses he operated. On Sept. 25, 2001, the BBB issued this warning:
"Since Dec. 1, 1998, the BBB has received more than 36 complaints against this firm, none of which has been responded to by the company," the agency said in a statement. "The majority of complainants never received their balloon ride and did not receive a refund."
In one instance a nun who wanted to celebrate her 50 years of service told the BBB she paid the company $364, which represented half the fare, for her and three other sisters to take a ride. The ride never happened and she did not receive a refund.
The complaints received by the BBB were for Air Balloon Sports, which used addresses in Chesterfield and Columbia, Ill., and a previous company, also owned by Nichols, called Manchester Balloon Voyages. It was registered with the state of Missouri using a south St. Louis County address.
From 2006 to 2008, the BBB received eight complaints about Air Balloon Sports, which received an unsatisfactory record with the BBB "because it failed to respond to complaints and the underlying pattern of problems has continued. The firm also failed to respond to the BBB concerning how it planned to address this pattern of complaints."
The BBB in its 2008 warning to consumers offered three examples:
_ An Alton woman said that she paid $1,600 in November 2005 for "an air balloon ride for our whole family. This was our Christmas gift to our children." She said they scheduled numerous rides over the next year, but every one was cancelled, even when the weather appeared calm and sunny. She said she tried to schedule more than one ride at a time, but Nichols would not allow that. The last cancellation was at the end of 2007 and many subsequent calls and a letter, asking for a refund, went unanswered, she said.
_ A St. Louis woman said she paid $424 in May 2006 for a balloon ride for her 30th wedding anniversary. She said a few scheduled flights were cancelled because of weather and that Nichols promised to call her when a spot was available. She said she called him and left a message in October 2007 indicating that she would still like a ride, but never heard back. She then said she sent the firm a certified letter asking for a refund, but the letter was refused and she has yet to receive a ride or a refund.
_ A St. Louis man said that he paid $424 for a hot air balloon ride in June 2007. After a few postponements he received his flight, but in January 2008, he said another charge of $424 was added to his credit card from the firm. He said he spoke with Nichols concerning the charge and was told that "the billing company that I use had a problem with their system." After many months and no refund, the consumer said he was able to have his credit card company credit the amount.
