Australia beach horror as hot air balloon crash lands on Melbourne's busiest beach | World | News | Express.co.uk

2022-12-29 10:58:44 By : Ms. Cindy Xu

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Australian beachgoers were left stunned and horrified as a hit air balloon made an emergency landing on a Melbourne beach on Wednesday morning. Early morning walkers looked on in horror as the balloon sailed past buildings, across a main road before slamming into a road sign.

A video then showed the balloon making a smooth landing on St Kilda beach.

The balloon had drifted off its original course which meant it missed its landing.

According to Sky News Australia, no one was injured in the incident.

One onlooker shared the video on Instagram, describing the incident as a "close call in St Kilda" while others praising the pilot's "great effort" in managing to land the balloon.

A post shared by JACQUELINE FELGATE (@jacquifelgate)

It follows another hot air balloon being forced to make an emergency landing in Melbourne's Ascot Vale park last Friday.

In April, there was an even more serious crash involving a hot air balloon in a Melbourne street.

Emergency services were called to the Ellwood area of the city to find a balloon covering two rooftops.

The basket of the balloon was in the garden and car park of one of the properties.

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������ BREAKING NEWS ������ Passengers in a hot air balloon in Melbourne have had a close call after a rough landing at St Kilda beach. #Sunriseon7 pic.twitter.com/aAJhub13Zc

Hot Air Balloon Unexpectedly Lands On Beach A passer-by has captured the moment a hot air balloon landed on a beach in St Kilda. The 'Chadstone' branded balloon had a rough landing around 7 am today on Beaconsfield Parade in St Kilda. There have been no reports of injuries. pic.twitter.com/U5AHZ3YLay

Fortunately none of the 12 people in the balloon were injured.

Fire Rescue Victoria’s high angle rescue technicians were called in to remove the balloon.

Police and SES (State Emergency Service) volunteers were also on the scene.

Speaking to radio station 3AW the pilot Nick Brau said that the balloon was on its maiden flight and struggled to get in the air properly after flying for around half an hour.

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sunriseon7: "He's threaded the eye of the needle" Hot air balloon passengers in Melbourne have had a close call after they flew over a busy road and past several large trees before landing on St Kilda beach. #Sunriseon7 pic.twitter.com/8zwXDwHusg

He admitted that the incident was “a bit embarrassing” but there had been a malfunction that he could not explain.

He said: "The valve that releases hot air from the top, which we use to manoeuvre the balloon, didn’t seal properly.

"So I was losing a lot of heat and it was difficult to keep the balloon up in the air so that’s why I was flying low and I was aiming for the beach but we didn’t make it for about 200 metres."

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