Hot-air balloon makes unexpected landing on San Diego hilltop: Video
A hot-air balloon, with a Scottish gin maker's brand on it, made an unexpected landing on a San Diego hilltop on Sunday.
There were 14 passengers aboard as the pilot was forced to set down the balloon on a hillside near Penasquitos Drive and Del Diablo Way around 7:15 p.m., according to video footage from ABC station KGTV.
An onlooker videotaped the descent of the balloon, which slowly struck and then skidded over a desert mound as flames intended to lift the craft back up proved futile.
A passenger also managed to record the incident from the grounded balloon basket as bystanders rushed to stabilize the craft, police said.
There were no reported injuries, and the National Transportation Safety Board said it would be investigating the incident.
The Hendrick's balloon has been touring over Southern California since 2012, according to numerous reports and video footage viewed by ABC News.
Some footage shows handles of gin being poured into glasses aboard hot-air balloons like the one that landed on Sunday.
The spirit company distanced itself from what it called a "controlled landing," saying in a statement that it was not a Hendrick's-sponsored event, that the balloon was "owned and operated by Sky's the Limit Ballooning Adventures" and that the craft landed on a patch "earmarked for balloon landing."
Sky's the Limit "routinely operate the balloon for their own recreational and commercial use," Hendrick's said.
