By ANEEKA SIMONIS
HEALESVILLE residents woke up to a surprise on Sunday 24 August when a hot air balloon made an emergency landing in their paddock early that morning.
Hart Mut, owner of the 50-acre paddock on Healesville-Kooweerup Road where the balloon landed said he’d “never experienced any exciting landings” since moving to the property about 40 years ago.
The Global Ballooning hot air balloon took off from a paddock in the west of the Valley earlier that morning, with Malaysian tourists in tow.
Global Ballooning director and pilot Kiff Saunders said high winds caused the impromptu landing, which was not far from where they had intended to land.
“It was a standard weekend balloon flight with a windy landing … all passengers came away unharmed.
“Ninety-five per cent of our balloons land in their designated spot, but if the wind changes we have the beauty of lots of paddocks to provide a safe option,” Kiff said.
Fire engines were called to the scene as flames began to develop at the base of the balloon, but Kiff said they left soon as it died down.
“It’s not uncommon. The balloon has an 80-foot sail and if the basket hits at 10 knots, it’s going to sometimes tip over or sag,” he said.
Due to poor weather conditions, the balloon remained on the Healesville property for two days before it was reinflated and dragged away.
“The paddock was really wet so there was no vehicle access. Rather than chew up the farmer’s paddock, we decided to leave it there for a couple of days and then inflate it and walk it over the fence – it was no problem at all,” Kiff said.
Mr Mut was pleased that his land was left unmarked by the collapsed basket, which was removed by a pilot he described as a “manoeuvring expert” along with several students from Worawa Aboriginal College.
“It was a great rescue effort,” Mr Mut said.
The Malaysian tourists were guided through the muddy paddock by Mr Mut and the pilot after the rough landing and are said to have then enjoyed a champagne breakfast.
