Hot air balloon unexpectedly lands in Bonney Lake neighborhood

BONNEY LAKE, Wash. — A hot air balloon unexpectedly landed in a Bonney Lake neighborhood, catching many neighbors by surprise.

Neighbors captured cell phone video of the unexpected landing on Village Parkway Thursday after 9 p.m.

Leaders with Seattle Ballooning confirmed with KIRO 7 News that the balloon carried eight people, including two people who were celebrating their 21st birthdays.

“First, I was like oh this is really cool, but then when we realized that it was going down, was when, oh okay, we better see if they need help,” said Lory Brinkmann, a neighbor.

Brinkmann said the balloon hovered about 25 feet above her family’s house.

Right before it landed on the neighborhood’s greenway, it descended to around 10 feet over her neighbor’s home, she added.

Several neighbors rushed over to help the eight aeronauts, including the Brinkmanns, and guided the balloon to a safe driveway to deflate the balloon.

“Myself, my husband and three other men were holding it to secure it until his team could arrive,” said Lory Brinkmann. “I was helping move people out of the way and direct cars and the men were helping control the basket and helping them guide it where they can deflate it.”

“I always try to make sure to take care of your neighbors, the community you’re in. Make sure it didn’t hit a house or take out a fence,” said David Brinkmann.

Three weeks prior, Ray Huppert, a neighbor, said a hot air balloon landed near his home in Bonney Lake, about three miles away from Thursday’s incident.

“It’s kind of a dangerous thing, especially in a populated neighborhood,” he said. “There is a lot of kids in this neighborhood and if the pilot doesn’t see something or a car drives by or powerlines or whatever, it could be a very dangerous situation.”

Seattle Ballooning confirmed both air balloons in both incidents belong to the company.

Leaders said the hot air balloon, involved with Thursday’s incident, took off from Lake Tapps and was scheduled to land in Sumner or south of Lake Tapps. However, the winds pushed the air balloon off is original course, forcing the pilot to land in a safe area.

Officials said the pilot chose to land in the Bonney Lake neighborhood since it did not have any power lines.

The owner of the company told KIRO 7 News that all pilots are trained and have proper equipment to keep passengers and neighbors safe.

“The pilot decided the safest place to land was in the street within the neighborhood. The balloon landed safely just after sunset. This is a completely normal landing event, albeit in a location which may not be used to balloons landing in their area. We’ve landed multiple times safely in surrounding neighborhoods,” Eliav Cohen, owner and chief pilot for Seattle Ballooning, wrote in a statement. “We understand that seeing balloons near homes can be unusual, and we understand some residents called emergency services, believing it may be an emergency. We appreciate their concern, but again - this was a completely safe and normal landing by a skilled pilot.”

The FAA said it does not have a report of Thursday’s incident.

All hot air balloons must follow the same regulations as other aircrafts, however, there are no specific rules on where balloons should take off or land, officials said.

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