When a Hot Air Balloon Landed on a Building

You never know where the wind may take a balloon during the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta….like last year when a balloon landed on top of a building!

We followed this gorgeous balloon for maybe an hour—my daughter picked it out as the one we’d chase since she loved the colors.

But instead of it landing, it just kept floating up and down, up and down…trying to find a good landing spot.

What Goes Up…

Typically balloons find an open field, a large (empty-ish) street, a parking lot, or a park to land.

But sometimes a balloon gets tangled up in a power line, which can be extremely dangerous.

Or, like in this case, land on top of a building!

When we chase a balloon we try to stay near the chase crew; they’re the professionals, and we’re just helpers. But this particular balloon ended up crossing traffic, and its chase crew was left behind a few stoplights away.

And then we watched as the balloon landed on the building…a Jersey Mike’s building!

The danger of a balloon landing on a building

Besides the obvious fact that balloons should be on firm ground, landing on a building leaves potential for the “envelope” to tear or rip. This one did rip a little bit, despite our attempts to keep it off the building next door.

We also tried to keep it from falling directly onto a parking spot sign—no photos of it, because I (along with a member of the chase crew) were standing on a car holding the envelope up, off the sign.

Look for the Helpers

Thankfully, the balloon wasn’t stuck on the roof for long; helpers came fairly quickly.

(Because when there’s a balloon stuck next to a major street, and on top of a restaurant, people tend to notice)!

The pilot was greeted with a cheer when the balloon landed on solid ground.

Time to Wrap it Up

Once the balloon was safely on the ground and deflating, we got the kids out of the car and let them help the chase crew get the air out of the balloon.

This was definitely one of the more exciting adventures we’ve seen while balloon chasing, and it’ll forever hold a memory in our minds.

In fact, we were driving by that area last week and Julia totally remembered. She said, “Hey Mama! Remember when there was a balloon up there on that building? They really should’ve landed on the ground instead.”