MEAWW.COM / NEWS / HUMAN INTEREST

Video footage captures terrifying moment hot air balloon CRASHES in California as passengers hang on

The video abruptly ends after 20 harrowing seconds, leaving some uncertainty about the group's status following the collision

The horrifying moment a hot air balloon fell into a California field in strong winds was recorded in a breathtaking viral video. Nicholas McCall, a TikTok user, was on his first-ever balloon trip when the aircraft's pilot was forced to make an emergency landing near Perris, California, around 70 miles southeast of Los Angeles.

McCall captioned the video on the social networking platform, "My hot air balloon experience was going great until the winds picked up." The pilot can be heard screaming, “Everybody hang on. Everybody hang on and stay in the basket. In the basket with me. Stay on. Stay on. Stay on.” But the drama didn't end there, as the balloon's basket bounced back up before plummeting to the ground and being dragged along at a 45-degree angle into the dirt.

RELATED ARTICLES

Albuquerque balloon crash: Who was Martin Martinez? Ex-cop and wife among 5 dead

Viral TikTok video shows Wisconsin man rollerblading away from pursuing police car

The video abruptly ends after 20 harrowing seconds, leaving some uncertainty about the group's status following the collision. Later, ABC News reported that all passengers were unharmed. McCall himself also rushed to TikTok to reassure his fans that everyone had survived the tragedy. McCall captioned the video, “Tik tok we are all okay don’t delete,” which has received over 731.6K likes. Many users reacted to this scary incident just like one person wrote, “I’ve been in those before- that would be horrifying!!!” According to How Stuff Works, balloons float because less dense, warm air is lighter than dense cold air. To steer, the pilot raises or lowers into horizontal air currents by heating the air in the balloon. The direction of air currents changes as one rise in height. 

Meanwhile, McCall and the other passengers should consider themselves fortunate since numerous balloon crashes have occurred over the years, the majority of which occurred on similar balloon trip tours.

Balloon SkyDive, the Perris-based business that oversaw the balloon ride, has not responded to media's request for a comment on the incident. On its website, Balloon Skydive says they offer balloon jumps at approximately sunrise 365 days a year.

"Balloon jumps are given over the Perris Valley, which is just a few minutes drive from Skydive Elsinore, located in Lake Elsinore, California and the Perris Valley Skydiving Center. Jumpers must have all their own rigs, gear and equipment," the website says.

According to research by the National Library of Medicine, 78 balloon flights crashed in the United States over a 12-year period. Between 2000 and 2011, 518 persons were hurt in collisions, with 91 of them suffering serious injuries and five deaths. All of the fatalities were caused by balloons colliding with fixed objects, and strong winds were responsible for 78% of the collisions.