Hot Air Balloon Images: August 2007

Tuesday, 14 August 2007

What goes up must come down. But when you're a hot air balloon pilot and you've just been told a bank of fog is moving in, the results can be a little chaotic.
This was the scene in Bristol as entrants in the city's annual balloon fiesta found themselves coming down to earth with a bump.

One made an emergency landing in a builders' yard, one in a large garden and the one pictured above in a street where startled householders ran out to help the crew and make sure the deflating balloon was kept under control.
The three-day fiesta attracts crowds of more than 500,000 to Bristol, with mass lift-offs in the early morning and late afternoon.
The balloons forced down had been among 107 taking part in a morning ascent on Saturday.

Surprise: The balloon in Mohammed Naseem's garden
"I woke everyone-else up to come and have a look and made the pilot a cup of tea.
"He said he had a choice either to go to Ikea, which had a flat roof, or a park nearby, but both were too far away so he looked for the biggest garden instead.
"He landed in a perfect position; he just missed our vegetable patch and the two cars. It was great fun."