Terrifying moment a hot air balloon crash lands on Melbourne’s busiest beach – colliding with a sign as it touched down
- Balloon made an emergency landing on a Melbourne beach on Wednesday
- The flight narrowly missed a main road and struck a sign during its descent
- Footage of the ‘close call’ in St Kilda was shared online, viewers left shocked
- This comes after a balloon landed in a local reserve in Vic’s Ascot Vale on Friday
Onlookers were left stunned as a hot air balloon made an emergency landing in a Melbourne beachfront suburb on Wednesday morning.
Early morning walkers watched as the balloon navigated through buildings, glided across a main road and slammed into a road sign about 7.30am.
Video shows the balloon then making a smooth landing on St Kilda beach.
One witness shared the video to Instagram, captioning it a ‘close call in St Kilda’ – with viewers commending the pilot’s ‘great effort’ in managing to land it.
The hot air balloon had a ‘close call’ with buildings and a main road, before colliding with a road sign during it’s descent
The balloon left onlookers alarmed as it narrowly missed residential rooftops and a main road
The incident follows another hot air balloon being forced to make an emergency landing in a local park in Melbourne’s Ascot Vale last Friday.
Both police and the hot balloon operator said Walter Street Reserve in the city’s west was a scheduled landing location.
Alarmed residents shared photos of the balloon as it flew low close to homes before it hit the ground.
‘I was on my morning walk and I noticed this hot air balloon getting lower and lower and it just made an emergency landing right near the goal posts,’ Christine told Radio 3AW.
No injuries were reported.
Ascot Vale residents were shocked to find hot air balloon in the middle of a local reserve
The hot air balloon was spotted flying close to homes before it hit the ground, sparking alarm
The incident comes months after a hot air balloon with 13 passengers on board crashed in a suburban street in Melbourne’s south.
The balloon was on it’s maiden journey for an 18th birthday surprise before it crashed into residential buildings about 7:20am.
Emergency services were called to the scene at Tiuna Grove in Elwood, but no injuries were reported.
The pilot, Nick Brau, of Liberty Flights, told the Today Show a valve malfunction had forced him to make the emergency landing.
‘We had a malfunction with one of the valves in the balloon,’ he said.
‘So we were losing a lot of heat. I was trying to take it to the beach only 200 metres away. Just didn’t manage to get there.’
Mr Brau, who has more than 27-years experience ballooning, said this is the first time he’s come down.
The spate of emergency landings led some to question what has been happening with hot air balloons, with ‘So many incidents [happening] recently’.
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