Posted on 04/27/2026 2:10:26 PM PDT by nickcarraway
A hot air balloon slammed into a Sacramento-area casino building Monday afternoon and stayed in the air after the chaotic tumble.
Sister station KCRA's LiveCopter 3 captured the moment the balloon slammed into a building as Sky River Casino was celebrating a groundbreaking for a new hotel.
The video showed the basket of the balloon hit the side of the building, at one point reaching a 90-degree angle, while there was someone still inside the basket.
The balloon kept going, attempting to descend for a landing, then aborting the effort and climbing back into the sky.
LiveCopter 3 observed the crash at 12:10 p.m. At 12:29 p.m., the balloon landed in a field.
The basket is on its side, and the cloth is deflated.
Watch the video player above.
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The imagery of a hot air balloon “slamming” into something doesn’t register.
It probably “fooomed” into the building.
And would probably make a more interesting headline.
I was stuck in the slow lane of a traffic jam one morning, and a hot air baloon landed about 10 feet from my passenger door.
Probably some poo in the basket, now.
Looked like a “slam” to me. Must’ve been pretty terrifying when your horizontal basket goes vertical.
I have ridden in them and they very much can slam into things, and it is scary as all get-out.
Back in the 80s I won a radio contest.....the prize was a hot air balloon ride.
Being back before the digital age, I did what research I could and ended up canceling.
I’m not comfortable being 100s of feet off the ground and being at the mercy of the winds and this story is a great example.
Didn’t see one soul in the balloon. Was it a drone balloon ?
“the balloon slammed into a building as Sky River Casino was celebrating a groundbreaking for a new hotel.”
Gee, when christening a ship they just break a bottle of champagne.
You fly balloons just after sunrise or just before sunset when winds are calm or nearly so.
Gravity is so unfair.
Give it credit, though, at least it never takes a day off.
Gravity really sucks.
Parking lot tethered hot air balloon promotion goes wrong (adding a hotel groundbreaking). The “OEM” TV website:
https://www.kcra.com/article/sky-river-casino-hot-air-balloon-crash-elk-grove/71141505
If fooomed floopily.
We had a balloon land on our street during Balloon Fiasco in ABQ back in 2001. The guy did a “splash and dash” in the river and then couldn’t gain sltitude fast enough to avoid hitting two houses a couple doors down from us. The incident caused about $1500 in damage.
I helped the crew pack up. Those things are heavy.
One of my all time favorite bathroom graffiti...
There is no gravity. The earth just sucks.
New tagline.
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