FAA to investigate 'Balloon Boy' hoax

The Federal Aviation Administration is to investigate the ‘Balloon Boy' hoax.

Last week, former Wife Swap participant Richard Heene phoned authorities to inform them that his 6-year-old son Falcon had floated away from their Fort Collins, CO home in a 20-foot wide, 5-foot high experimental helium balloon.

The aircraft landed and the youth was not located, leading to fears that he had fallen out during the flight. However, Falcon was later discovered hiding in a box in the attic of the family's home. They were then featured on a number of news programmes and during an interview with CNN presenter Wolf Blitzer, the boy said: "We did it for the show."

Richard and wife Mayumi now face criminal charges of conspiracy, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, making a false report to authorities and attempting to influence a public servant for the occurrence. The FAA has opened an investigation to see if any airspace rules were violated, E! reports.

"We don't have any charges, but we are investigating them to see if there are any regulations that have been broken," organisation spokesman Mike Fergus said. "From that point on, we will make a determination if anything further is warranted."

However, the FAA would not have the jurisdiction to press criminal charges. Fergus added: "We don't have that kind of authority. If there's some law that has been broken, we would merely inform some other agency."

The couple could receive a letter of reprimand to a monetary fine, if it is proven they have violated any federal regulations.