Hot Air Balloon With Wedding Party Onboard Lands in Street
The balloon was carrying a six-person wedding party
— -- A hot air balloon with a couple on board taking their wedding vows was forced to make an emergency landing on a San Diego street Thursday afternoon.
The balloon, with a 6-person wedding party on board, began experiencing trouble about 20 minutes into the group’s trip.
The balloon’s pilot, Phil Brandt, was forced to dodge buildings and power lines as the balloon hovered perilously over a valley.
Brandt, a nearly 25-year veteran pilot, fired up the aircraft repeatedly to try to keep it afloat. He eventually directed the balloon towards a tree, which it clipped before making a safe landing on the street below.
“I used that tree to my advantage on the landing actually, to slow the basket down so we could land in the street and come to a stop quick ,” Brandt told local ABC affiliate KGTV.
The bride’s father, Curtis Cam, told KTGV the balloon ride was a memorable way for his daughter’s wedding to end.
“We ended up coming down, hitting a tree and landing in the street,” he said. “We’re never going to forget the ending of the wedding."