‘People were coming out of the woodwork to see what was going on’ : Balloon Ride Was a Surprise, Indeed

A balloon ride that a Mission Viejo woman gave her husband as a surprise birthday present caused a lot of rubbernecking Tuesday in Newport Beach when the balloon flew over the city at a height of about 100 feet, then did a “splash-and-go” landing on the bay before setting down on a beach.

Police ticketed balloon pilot Peter Scherm of Cloud Encounter in Costa Mesa for landing an aircraft without a permit.

“It caused a lot of problems during rush-hour traffic,” Officer Bob Stephens said. “If you saw a hot air balloon about 100 feet above your car, you’d probably stop and look.

“People were coming out of the woodwork to see what was going on,” Stephens added.

Scherm’s balloon flew over a stretch of Coast Highway, landed briefly on Newport Bay, then floated aloft again over the crowded Balboa Peninsula, landing on the beach at 18th Street and Bay Avenue about 8:30 a.m., Stephens said.

He added: “He was going toward the ocean. If he had overshot the Balboa Peninsula, the wind would have carried him away from the coast.” No one was injured.

Scherm told Stephens that he was taking his clients--Debbie Zolna and husband Gabe, who turned 42 Tuesday--to Santa Ana, but a wind shift diverted the craft to Newport Beach.

Police questioned whether Scherm, who took off from Costa Mesa, had intended to fly over Santa Ana.

“That’s kind of unlikely. First of all, who would want to fly to Santa Ana?” Stephens wondered.

Scherm, who faces a misdemeanor that could net him a maximum six months in jail and a $500 fine, could not be reached.

Ralph Odenwald, air traffic manager at John Wayne Airport, said that winds in the area usually prevail from the southwest and that a balloon coming from Costa Mesa would typically head toward Santa Ana. But Tuesday morning, the wind was blowing from the west or the northwest toward the southeast, he said, adding that Scherm had received tower permission to fly in the airport vicinity.

As for Gabe Zolna, recipient of the surprise, “He thought it was great,” Stephens said.