Despite warnings to this year’s 78 hot-air balloonists to not do a “Splash and Dash” during the Labor Day Liftoff in Colorado Springs, one pilot went rogue and touched down in Prospect Lake anyway Sunday morning.

That decision cost the pilot the ability to fly on Monday, said Scott Appelman, event director.

Appelman said he witnessed the renegade balloonist, whom he decline to name, dipping the basket of his balloon in Prospect Lake, which is closed to water activity due to a harmful algae.

“The pilot did not fly Monday morning as a penalty,” Appelman said. “The event disqualified him. We had 77 other pilots that did not touch the lake.”

The presence of blue-green algae, which can be fatal to dogs and make humans sick, has banned anyone from wading, swimming, boating and paddle boarding in the lake near Memorial Park. Add to that list landing the from above, as is usually traditional during the balloon liftoff.

Appelman deemed this year’s event “a huge success,” with good weather enabling the balloons to take flight each morning of the long holiday weekend.

Crowds were as large as ever for the 43rd liftoff, he said.

“Saturday morning was overwhelming,” Appelman said. “There were more people there since it started.”