The "Non-routine Landing" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Walking out to put some envelopes in the mailbox when I heard it.  A loud whoosh and then a hissing sound.  Looked up in the sky and there behind the dentist's office across from the my driveway was a hot air balloon.  Heard the hiss of the burners and saw the flame as the pilot tried to gain some altitude.  Turned around and headed into the house to get my camera for a couple of shots.  

By the time I had returned the balloon was much higher in the sky and headed southwest across Lancaster.  This morning I opened the newspaper and on page 3, the local page, was a photo of a hot air basket with its balloon in the distance.  Seems the wind had been causing problems for the balloon and when the wind shifted later in its flight, it went down in nearby Lancaster Township.  Actually it was two balloons that had been traveling together and both had to make landings in a non-routine location.  The two balloons landed about two city blocks away from each other, neither with any problems.  They did graze the tops of the trees in the area in order to slow them so they could land in open areas away from homes.  The newspaper reported that the "chase teams" of each balloon loaded the balloons into their trailers and left shortly after they had landed.  I remember years ago being in a hot air balloon and going through the same thing.  My wife had bought me a balloon ride for my birthday and a few weeks later I was in the air to the north of Lancaster.  Traveled over farmland with three other riders until the wind picked up and caused the balloon to head off course.  The pilot managed to control the balloon and descended onto a county road.  Spooked a horse pulling an amish buggy as we touched down.  The pilot tried to get the balloon under control, but it was pulled down the road as the balloon dropped.  We hit a ridge along the side of the road and the balloon tipped over.  Myself and the other passengers fell on top of the pilot who took the brunt of the abrupt stop.  The pilot was the only one with any scraps and we all hopped in the chase van and headed back to our take-off spot.  Neat experience which I never had enough nerve to try again.  The balloon is always at the mercy of the environment and at times it does create problems.  Luckily the two balloons that landed prematurely yesterday didn't have disastrous results.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.