HOT AIR BALLOON MAKES EMEGENCY LANDING IN PADDY FIELD NEAR ALOR SETAR

ALOR SETAR, Feb 23 (Bernama) -- A hot air balloon was forced to make an emergency landing in a paddy field at Kampung Pisang, Kota Sarang Semut, near here this morning to avoid drifting out to sea.

Kota Setar District Police Chief, ACP Syed Basri Syed Ali, said they received information regarding the incident at approximately 12:12 pm from a village resident who reported that a hot air balloon had landed in the fields.

“Investigations revealed that the hot air balloon began its flight from the Pendang Mini Stadium at 6:30 am and flew according to the wind direction. However, the two crew members operating the balloon were forced to land in the open paddy field area to prevent the wind from carrying it toward the sea.

“After landing, the two crew members in the balloon and two others in a four-wheel-drive vehicle immediately packed the equipment and headed back to Bertam, Penang. No casualties or property damage occurred,” he said in a statement today.

He added that investigations revealed the hot air balloon belongs to a water theme park resort and was found to have lacked permission from the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM) and Air Traffic Control (ATC) to fly the balloon in Kedah airspace.

“They only had permission to be in the airspace of the Taiping area in Perak; the case has been referred to CAAM for further action,” he said.

Meanwhile, an eyewitness, Azhar Abu Bakar, 62, from Kota Sarang Semut, said that during the incident, he was behind his house looking at his paddy field before a friend pointed toward the hot air balloon, which was flying low in the area.

“I saw the balloon coming from the direction of Pendang. Initially, I thought it was going to land on a school field there because it was already flying quite low at the time, but it rose again after that.

“I could hear them releasing the balloon's gas, and at that point, I was quite worried because it was flying close to the power lines located in the middle of the fields. I saw it land and rushed to the scene immediately,” he said.

He said that upon arriving at the location, several crew members had already begun packing and loading the balloon onto a four-wheel-drive vehicle before quickly leaving the area.

-- BERNAMA