San Diego, Ca. – Surfers came to the rescue of a newly engaged couple aboard a hot air balloon that made an emergency landing off the coast of a San Diego beach on Sunday.
The balloon hovered low over coastal homes around 6:30 p.m. after experiencing altitude issues, according to Fox5 San Diego. Then the wind shifted, causing the pilot to take the balloon out over the ocean.
The pilot dropped the balloon’s messenger line down to surfers in the water and they helped pull the hot air balloon down to the surface until lifeguards arrived, Giles said.
One of the passengers didn’t know how to swim and was the first to be rescued by lifeguards.
Before the balloon started having problems, a man aboard the balloon proposed to his girlfriend, according the lifeguard captain.
Lifeguards towed the hot air balloon, pilot and newly engaged couple to shore.
“Yeah this is pretty crazy. It was pretty wild. We just talked to hot air balloon people. They’re really great people. They take safety very seriously, and for whatever reason, the atmosphere conditions changed and took them over the water,” Mark Burnz, with Burnz Eye View, said. He was one of many witnesses to the emergency landing and captured dramatic video.
Giles said the last time lifeguards came to the rescue of a hot air balloon was 14 years ago.
