NATIONAL & WORLD NEWS
By Neil Vigdor, New York Times
Sept 23, 2021
Balloon struck power lines on June 26 in Albuquerque, New Mexico
The pilot of a hot air balloon that crashed into power lines in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in June, killing him and all four passengers, had cocaine and marijuana in his system, according to a toxicology report made public Wednesday.

Blood and urine samples taken from the pilot, Nicholas Meleski, 62, showed the presence of the drugs, the Federal Aviation Administration said in the report, which the agency released as part of a public records request.

Although alcohol was not detected in the samples, cocaethylene, a compound created when the liver metabolizes cocaine in the presence of ethanol, was also detected in his urine but not his blood. The FAA did not comment beyond the report.

The balloon piloted by Meleski struck power lines at 7:07 a.m. local time June 26 about 6 miles west of the Albuquerque International Sunport airport, causing the gondola to separate from the balloon’s envelope and fall about 100 feet, investigators said.

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Balloon pilots must get a pilot's license from the FAA. I wonder if they are subjected to random drug tests. I got hit with several random drug tests when I was driving the big rig. If you test positive one time, for coke or for pot, your driving career is over.

from last June:

Balloon pilot remembered for his unique, positive personality
ALBUQUERQUE NEWS
by: Jami Seymore, KRQE Staff

Posted: Jun 27, 2021 / 05:18 PM MDT / Updated: Jun 29, 2021 / 10:26 AM MDT

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – On Sunday morning, state police identified the pilot of Saturday’s hot air balloon crash as Nicholas Meleski. The longtime local pilot had been a part of a number of Balloon Fiestas. Friends say the avid balloonist loved flying his iZia balloon around the world and was always smiling, making passengers feel at ease.




One day after a tragic hot air balloon crash in southwest Albuquerque, five candles now sit amongst the flowers and ribbons at the crash site off Central and Unser — one for each of the victims, including the pilot, Nick Meleski. Longtime friend Maria Abramson remembers the moment she heard about the horrific crash.

“I saw a post yesterday. We were watching YouTube and they had the news on about a balloon incident,” said Abramson, who has since relocated from Albuquerque to Houston. “I saw it and thought, ‘well God, that’s terrible.'”

She says she originally didn’t connect the dots. Abramson says she was floored when his name was listed amongst the victims this morning.
I asked her, ‘Patty, please tell me it isn’t Nick,'” said Abramson, who immediately called a mutual friend here. “She said, ‘it’s Nick.'”

Abramson says she first met Meleski when he was a UPS driver and would often come to her work. She eventually began working for his sister. One day, he invited her up for a flight for her first balloon ride.

“He talked us through the whole flight and explained to us and then we got to a certain point where we were up,” said Abramson. “Throw out a little history about the ballooning and then he would not say anything because he would say I just want you to sit here and enjoy thi

Some of Meleski’s fellow balloonists reached out to us with their own memories of him. Some say he radiated positivity, while others recalled the times they flew around the world in places like India, Thailand and China. However, all say this is an enormous loss to the ballooning community, not just in Albuquerque, but around the world.

“He loved ballooning,” said Abramson. “You could see it in his eyes.”

Meleski crewed for at least 10 years before getting his pilot’s license back in the mid-90s. In addition to the iZia balloon, Meleski had also flown special shapes like the red Angry Birds and Smokey Bear.

Bravissimo.....

Not sure what more to expect from a guy that aspires to pilot balloons.

Guy I went to school with, couple years older than me got killed flying high. He took a nose dive out of 6th story of parking garage while high on meth. Just say no to drugs!

So he got a little high?

In the sky with diamonds....

throw in some booze and whores and it sounds like a good balloon ride

Heck yah! Until you hit the power lines...

I think this also happened in 2016, 10 people died, pilot was high.

Can't die like a rock star unless you can party like a rock star!

Facts don't seem to matter at the fire

I’d have to be completely wasted also to go up in one of those things.

Pot screws up your depth perception.

Celebrate individual freedom, unless you disagree, then you're a muthetfuucker!

To be fair, marijuana stays in your system a long time. You could be completely stoned on pot on Saturday night, and take a drug test 3 days later. You haven't been stoned for days, but the pot would show up on that drug test. Smoking one good joint could get you a positive test for a week. So, no way to know if the dead pilot was actually stoned on pot.

On the other hand, cocaine doesn't stay in the system for long so he probably was high on coke.

I’m always stoned when I fly my balloon. What is the big deal?

He must have been really fried

Having been around the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta participants, a lot, I can say they almost all subscribe to the "Party Hearty" way of life.
Most are totally sober and focused while flying - however a few, not so much. (emphasis on the "few" ).
Flying in a balloon is an experience that must be experienced to be appreciated.

10 people wouldn’t fit in a ballon?

Yeah but coming down was a bummer.

So, was he “stoned” or simply there was “ the presence of the drugs”?

You would have to be completely F'd to climb in a freaking picnic basket attached to a balloon and float away