Deadly crash comes months after FAA rejected safety recommendations

In April 2014, the National Transportation and Safety Board warned of the potential for a "high number of fatalities in a single air tour balloon accident" if federal officials did not adopt stricter regulations of hot air balloon tour operators.

The recommendations, which the safety board said would bring balloon operators in line with the kind of oversight received by airplane and helicopter tour operators, were quickly dismissed as "unnecessary and burdensome" by the trade group Balloon Federation of America.

And in November, the Federal Aviation Administration formally rejected the safety recommendations, writing that “Since the amount of ballooning is so low, the FAA believes the risk posed to all pilots and participants is also low.”