Hot Air Balloon Makes Unexpected Landing Right In The Middle Of Woodland
WOODLAND (CBS13) – A hot air balloon made an unexpected landing inside of Woodland on Friday morning.
Woodland police say the Napa Valley Balloons craft landed in the bowling alley parking lot on Main Street. A total of 13 people were aboard the balloon at the time, including the pilot and another employee.
The balloon's owner says Friday's landing was "rare and unexpected."
The wayward balloon drifting over the city created a bit of a spectacle.
No one was hurt in the landing, police say, despite initial reports that it was an emergency landing. Another balloon that drifted off course landed near County Road 98 and W. El Dorado Drive, Woodland Fire says.
Victor Morales saw one of the balloons coming down and said no one was panicking, but they needed help, tossing a rope to people down below.
"Luckily the guy controlling the balloon, he looked like he had control of the situation," Morales said. "They were out there pulling the rope, they started struggling a little bit, a construction guy ran over there, started pulling on the rope, then pretty cool everyone else started running over pulling on the rope kinda of like a tug of war with the hot air balloon."
Everyone safely ended up on solid ground.
It's not entirely uncommon to see hot air balloons making unexpected landings in Yolo County. Last year, a windy day forced a couple of balloons to land right next to the freeway in Winters.
The balloon that landed near Winters last year has nearly the exact same colors and markings as the balloon that landed in Woodland on Friday. However, it's unclear if they're the exact same craft.
