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A hot air balloon carrying 13 passengers made an emergency landing in a Temecula backyard Saturday morning (April 19), leaving homeowners stunned but unharmed.
Hunter Perrin and his wife, Jenna Perrin, were relaxing at home off Temecula Parkway around 8:30 a.m. when their security camera detected movement in their backyard. Moments later, a neighbor knocked on their door with unexpected news.
"I opened the door, and he goes, 'They just landed in your backyard.' And I was like, 'What do you mean?' And he goes, 'The balloon,'" Hunter Perrin told KNBC.
The couple rushed outside to find a hot air balloon basket filled with approximately a dozen people sitting on their lawn. The pilot explained that diminishing winds forced the emergency landing as the balloon began to hover and ran low on fuel.
"The pilot, he was masterful," Hunter said. "He got it right down inside, like directly into the backyard, where there was nothing. The balloon didn't catch on anything. No one was injured."
"I was amazed that they missed our tree. They missed our house," Jenna noted. "They're practically kissing the fence."
Brianna Avalos, a passenger celebrating her 10th anniversary with a hot air balloon ride, recalled the pilot's announcement. "He said there's not enough wind, because the wind kind of like, stopped a little bit. And he was like, 'We're going to land.' And we only had a little bit of fuel left," Avalos told KABC.
All 13 passengers had to exit the basket while crews waited for additional fuel tanks to arrive. The process of refueling and maneuvering the balloon over the house to a transport truck on the street took approximately two hours.
No injuries or property damage were reported. The Perrins say the pilot ensured everyone's safety throughout the ordeal, and neighbors who had never met before came together to witness the event.