LAKE TAPPS, Wash. — A Lake Tapps couple are being called “heroes” after they jumped into their boat to help a hot air balloon with seven people on board land safely on solid ground.
The owner of Seattle Ballooning says the winds were too calm on Sunday night to make it to their final destination by the time the sun set.
That final destination was Kelley Farm in Bonney Lake, some two and a half miles away.
They were flying over Lake Tapps when he decided they needed a little assistance to meet the federal requirement to land by sunset.
“Now there was a little piece of grass that was at a park,” said Seattle Ballooning owner Eliav Cohen. “And I said, ‘alright guys,’ which I had told my passengers already, ‘we were probably going to maybe get to use a boat operation.’”
Monica and Robb Powers were watching it all from their deck.
“They started dipping down below the trees,” said Robb. “And just seemed like they were lingering there a little bit longer than normal.”
So, they jumped into their boat.
“I flew low, two feet over the water,” Cohen said. “And I said, ‘hey guys, can I drop a line to you? You can put it in gear and pull us a little bit further to the right.’”
“And we’re like ‘okay,’” said Monica. “So, we drove over, got the rope and started pulling them in.”
Robb said that he had never done anything like that before, but the pair has towed lots of boats or jet skis.
Cohen says this wasn’t unusual in the ballooning world.
“Boating operations on the water are fairly normal when there’s calm winds,” he said.
But he is grateful Monica and Robb answered his call.
“Now, they are heroes!” exclaimed Cohen. “I will say that all, all boaters who help with a balloon are heroes in their own way.”
“Just a fun day for kids,” shouted someone.
And it was a real treat for the kids he enlisted to punch the air out of the balloon for the night.
Cohen says this is only his second time using a boat operation to land safely. The first time was four years ago.
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