HENRICO COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) — No injuries were reported after a hot air balloon had to make an emergency landing in a neighborhood in central Henrico County.

Gilbert Martin was piloting the hot air balloon when it made its emergency landing. 

He says he has been a hot-air balloon pilot for 32 years and sometimes these landings need to happen.  

“In hot air ballooning, we don’t always get to choose where we land. We fly with the wind and where it takes us is where we go. While most people think this was a crash, it really was a planned landing,” Martin said.  

The balloon took off from Hanover County Municipal Airport on the morning of Sunday, May 14.

According to the Henrico County Police Department, Henrico Emergency Communications received a call at around 7:23 a.m. which reported that the balloon was suspected of crashing near the intersection of Chamberlayne Road and Diane Lane.

Shortly after, Henrico Emergency Communications made contact with the balloon’s pilot, who was able to make an “unplanned” landing on the 800 block of Azalea Avenue. Several adults were on board at the time, but no one was injured.

The pilot said he intended to land at a mall in the area, but strong winds prevented him from doing so and he landed the balloon in the backyard of a home.

Jakari Cole lives in the house behind where the air balloon landed. 

“I have never seen that in my life. It was crazy.” He said the morning started off like any other. 

“It was just a normal morning. Woke up, got in the shower, brushed my teeth like any normal person would do,” he said.

Cole describes what it was like seeing the hot air balloon make its landing and said it was something he would never forget. 

“Well, first my house started shaking, and at first I thought it was just a plane really low to the ground,” he said. “And I was like, okay, well, I’ll just ignore it. But then I heard trees falling and I looked outside, and it was just it was a big air balloon just right over my neighbor’s house. It was just huge about, I would say like 40 feet. It was it was it was pretty big.”  

According to the pilot, hot air balloon landings are a common occurrence in Hanover County, but not Henrico. When the balloon landed in the yard, the pilot said the residents of the neighborhood were alarmed and called police.

Henrico Police officers and Henrico Fire crews responded to the scene, as well as Virginia State troopers and Hanover County Sheriff’s deputies, according to police.

When 8News arrived at the scene, the balloon’s canopy had been removed and only the basket remained.

This is a developing story, stay with 8News for updates.