Hot air balloon lands in front yard of Hawthorn home

A Hawthorn resident had a surprise visit when a hot air balloon dropped from the sky into her front yard on Tuesday morning.

The balloon landed about 9am at the Auburn Road property in a residential suburb of Melbourne, Australia.

A Victoria Police spokesman said no one was injured in the incident that temporarily closed Auburn Road in both directions at the intersection of Burwood Road while the balloon was deflated and removed.

Picture This Ballooning chief executive officer Damian Crock said the pilot had decided to land the balloon with 10 people on board due to light winds.

He said the balloon had not crashed and was manipulated into place using land lines thrown from the balloon to five ground crew members waiting below.

The balloon had been in the air for about an hour and a half before setting down. A second balloon landed in nearby Holzer Park.

“It was a very light wind day and our pilot has made an extremely safe landing in an unusual spot, but safety is always our priority,” he said.

Mr Crock said the company’s balloons made unscheduled landings about twice a year when light winds made it difficult to complete flights as planned.

He said all those on board had “had a ball” and the resident at the Auburn Road property had an “unexpected colourful addition to her front yard”.

Mr Crock said hot air balloons had been flying over Melbourne for more than 25 years and there had been no fatalities or major injuries.

One of the balloon’s passengers, Tracey, said she never felt in danger and would like to fly in a hot air balloon again.

“I definitely would, it was very exciting. It hasn’t put me off at all, he was very confident in his ability to land it,” she told Radio 3AW.

The pilot of the balloon that landed in Holzer Park, Peter Wright, said the winds had been getting lighter throughout the morning, prompting his colleague Andy Kaye to land in Auburn Road.

“Sometimes when winds become light and variable it makes life difficult for us balloon pilots and occasionally we need to put the balloon in a spot that’s safe but not necessarily ideal,” Mr Wright told Radio 3AW.

Mr Wright said the Auburn Road property had not been damaged and the resident, who had initially been concerned about her roses, had been quite excited but her surprise guests.

“It’s a tight spot but the beautiful thing about a balloon is that you can stick a balloon in a spot that’s big enough to take the basket. The basket fitted in the front yard of this nice lady’s house and we managed to deflate the balloon directly down into the yard,” he told Radio 3AW.

Mr Wright said Mr Kaye had chosen to land while the conditions remained calm so that the descent could be tightly controlled and power lines avoided.

via – The Age