A large hot-air ballon landed safely last Saturday night in a field near State Route 520 after wind gusts changed its flight plan, according to Bill Star, co-owner of Over the Rainbow, a Woodinville-based hot-air balloon tour service.

Around 9:30 p.m. Redmond police got a call about the incident and responded, but no one was hurt and no ticket was issued.

Star, who was piloting the eight-passenger balloon, said usually the one-hour tour lands further north in the Sammamish Valley, but “Mother Nature changed our route, we drifted down that way and landed in the field next to the road. Everybody is fine.”

Once winds changed the balloon’s flight path, Star said he was hoping to land the balloon in Marymoor Park, but instead landed it about 300 feet west of the park near West Lake Sammamish Parkway exit off of SR-520.

“When you are up there, you are part of the wind,” said Star, who has been piloting balloons for the last 25 years. “It’s not an exact science. Sometimes you don’t land where you planned.”

About a half dozen drivers pulled over and checked out the giant balloon land and then get packed up.

“People wanted to see the balloon, but no one wanted to help pack up,” Star said with a chuckle.

He said that was the first time he landed in that particular spot, but he said the landing location changes — according to the wind — for every hot-air balloon trip. He said he has landed several times in Marymoor Park and before Redmond Town Center was built, downtown Redmond was a popular landing area.

“Obviously that has changed,” he said. “There’s a lot more growth in that area now.”

The summer is the ideal hot-air balloon season because of the mild and dry weather conditions, Star said.

Over the Rainbow offers flights through mid-October. For more information, visit http://www.letsgoballooning.com.