In a statement, the company apologised to the affected passengers and said that conditions appeared calm in the lead-up to the sudden change in wind direction. Six other balloons had taken off alongside the Go Wild vessel, the company said. "Moments before landing the pilot observed a large dam with mist above it which indicated calm conditions for landing," the statement said. Soon after the crash, Ambulance Victoria activated its mass casualty plan, as paramedics assessed seven people - including Australians and international visitors - at the scene. Three people were taken to Royal Melbourne Hospital: a woman in her 60s who suffered abdominal and back injuries, a man in his 60s with back, neck and ankle injuries, and a man in his 70s with back injuries.

Two women in their 50s were taken to Marnoondah Hospital while two more people - a woman in her 60s with suspected ankle fractures and a man in his 20s with back injuries - went to Box Hill Hospital. Police and paramedics at the scene of the balloon accident. Credit:Joe Armao Paramedic Ben Allan said that the injuries may have included fractures but he couldn’t confirm that was the case. He said all the patients were conscious when paramedics arrived and that some workers from a nearby construction site were among the first on the scene. "Quite a number of [the passengers] were anxious about what had occurred and that's understandable," he said.

"A number of them were walking around the scene. Others were lying on the ground injured and in pain.’’ He said it was lucky that fewer than half of the passengers needed to be taken to hospital. "We could have had significant injuries and a lot more people to hospital," he said Police at the scene of the hot air balloon crash. Credit:Joe Armao Acting Senior Sergeant Carolyn Sunderland, from Mooroolbark, said the pilot was taking "evasive actions to land the balloon safely" before the crash.

"He's just touched down a little bit heavily, the balloon has skipped up and hit a slight incline which has caused the basket to tip over," she said. Senior Sergeant Sunderland said hot air balloon accidents were a "rarity" in the area and said the people on board were in "high spirits". Damian Crock, a spokesman for the Victorian hot air balloon industry, said that earlier reports that passengers had been "ejected" from the balloon's basket were incorrect. The passengers had stayed inside the basket but the force of the impact had caused the injuries, he said. He said ballooning companies were cautious about when they decide to fly.

'It's very unusual.' "We typically have 150-200 days of operation throughout the year, that's how conservative the industry is," he said.He said Mr Fraser was one of the most experienced pilots in the industry and had flown tens of thousands of passengers. Go Wild's website describes him as a "pioneer" of hot air ballooning after starting the company in 1989."Melbourne was the first city anywhere in the world to have this activity and there has never been a fatality, it remains one of the safest forms of aviation on the planet," he said. Local woman Andrea Hamer said she heard sirens about 7.15am and a helicopter shortly after. "We never get emergencies and we never hear that so I noticed it. I thought it was my grandson playing with a toy or something," she said. "It's very unusual." Ms Hamer said hot air balloons were common in the area but said conditions were quite windy on Thursday morning.

Alex Inglese, who owns the property where the balloon crashed, said he thought something might have gone wrong when they heard it flying low over their house. He and his wife Sonia live under a flight path for the balloons, which take off and land in the nearby Yarra Valley wineries. There have been at least four crashes close by in the past six years, he said, including in their backyard. Another in neighbouring Yarra Glen had been tangled up in power lines, he said. "It was very close, I thought it was too close to the ground. I paid no attention to it and then I opened the window and saw it down there," he said. Mrs Inglese said it was lucky that the balloon didn’t crash into a nearby construction site, where workers from company John Holland are doing major water works.

"It's bad enough for the people on board let alone hitting someone else," she said. "Thank goodness there was no fatal injuries." A caller to radio station 3AW, Mark, said he saw the balloon on the ground about 500 metres from his vantage point. "I was driving past that way heading to Wodonga. The [two] balloons were getting closer to the ground," he said.