Friday May 9^, a hot- air balloon caught fire in Virginia after hitting power lines near the balloons landing site. The explosion killed the pilot and the two passengers. The two passengers were members of the University of Richmonds woman’s basketball program: staff associate head coach Ginny Doyle and director of basketball operations Natalie Lewis.The question: is did the still missing pilot Daniel Kirk know the power lines were there?

            According to reports, the power lines that the balloon hit may not have been on the pilots map. Terry McAuliffe, Gov. of Virginia, said Monday that the power line “apparently wasn’t on the map the pilot was looking at or not looking at, but we don’t know for sure.” Investors from National Transportation Board are now focusing their efforts on finding the balloon wreckage, “We will be investigating the man, machine and environment.” Says Heidi Moats NTSB investigator.

            The search was scaled back at sundown Saturday due to difficulty of seeing in the dark and the terrain. A full- scale effort took place at daybreak on Sunday morning. Witnesses say that the pilot of the balloon took every step to manage the situation before the explosion actually happened.

            Due to the explosion the organizers canceled the festival where the accident took place and will continue to search for answers of what went wrong the evening of the balloon explosion.