SASKATOON – Residents see them flying over Saskatoon at dawn and dusk and now twice in less than two weeks the same hot air balloon has had a questionable landing.
The Saskatoon Indian Gaming Authority’s (SIGA) slot machine shaped hot air balloon landed just behind several homes near the north end of Boychuk Drive on Thursday evening.
It was enough to startle several people who called police to report it, but the crew says the landing was planned.
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On Oct. 3, the same SIGA balloon made a safe but unplanned landing after the pilot realized there wasn’t enough wind and made an emergency landing in a Queen Elizabeth School park.
According to the Saskatoon Police Service, 2009 is the last year they could recall an incident where officers were called to assist with a hot air balloon, aside from these two recent reports.
“Certainly when you have a couple of incidents close together, people think there’s a problem. I don’t know that that’s the case, I think they’re very rare these types of incidents and we hope we don’t see any more of them,” said Alyson Edwards, Saskatoon police service communications.
“Its drawn extra attention, which from a marketing standpoint is good, but for any concerned citizens, I can assure them the balloon is flying safely.”
According to Sundance Balloons, the manufacturer of the balloon, this is the company’s only “specially-shaped” hot air balloon in Canada.
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