A hot air balloon made an emergency landing in an Illinois neighborhood after a passenger fainted

Residents of an Illinois community were shocked to see a hot air balloon make an emergency landing on a neighborhood front lawn.

The pilot made an impromptu landing in Lake in the Hills on Wednesday after one of his five passengers lost consciousness, Al Schlick, the deputy chief of Huntley Fire Protection District, told CNN.

The balloon had been in the air for nearly an hour when an 80-year-old woman passenger started to feel light-headed.

“We looked out our window and here comes the hot air balloon, like right between the homes here. And then they were waving at us and we’re waving, like, ‘We don’t know, this is awfully close’,” a homeowner who caught the incident on her surveillance camera told CNN affiliate KVEO-TV.

The balloon landed safely and the passenger regained consciousness. She was examined by paramedics, but refused to go to a hospital, Schlick said.

“The pilot did a fantastic job landing it right between two houses with the help of his ground crew that was following them around. That took some incredible skill,” he added.

“Hot air balloons aren’t uncommon in this part of the country, but in my past 33 years in the fire service, this was the first time I’ve seen a medical emergency in a hot air balloon, let alone seeing it land in a residential neighborhood.”

All of the passengers were evacuated from the balloon before it took to the air again.