Hot air balloons are pretty darn cool. They always felt like magic to me. I know the name makes it pretty obvious, and heat rises... but still. Either way, seeing one is always very nice. But, they can (un)surprisingly be quite dangerous, both to the operator, and bystanders. That is, if things don't go right, of course.
And, things didn't go right yesterday, April 28. As reported by the New York Post, a hot air balloon slammed straight into a Sacramento casino. A local outlet's LiveCopter showed the event. The balloon was originally launched from an empty parking lot near the Sky River Casino in Elk Grove, Sacramento.
In a pretty terrifying scene, the hot air balloon was hit by a massive gust of wind. It was sent flying straight into the casino, around midday local time. While the footage isn't 100% clear, it's obvious the hot air balloon smashed into the casino at a pretty bad angle - almost 90 degrees.
It looked like it did some damage too. The pilot luckily managed to stay in the basket, but a suspension wire among other parts were damaged. People on the ground rushed to get out of the way.
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The Hot Air Balloon Then Made a Pretty Scary Detour
But then, things got even more scary. The pilot desperately was trying to control the balloon, but it just wasn't working.
The video footage kept eyes on the hot air balloon. It showed the pilot manoeuvring to try and make a landing. But, he had to abandon those plans. He ended up almost hitting the power lines. But, it's a good thing he didn't go for it - he would've landed into oncoming traffic.
A spokesperson for the Sky River Casino confirmed that there were no injuries in the event. Cindy Rivers said, "Due to unexpected heavy winds, the pilot chose to launch into free flight in accordane with safety protocols. The balloon and pilot have landed safely."
We're glad everyone is okay. Although, I think this might personally put me off from wanting to go on a hot air balloon ride, at least for a little bit...
