Team Herald
PONDA: The adventurous hot air balloon ride created panic among Panchawadi locals when a hot air balloon with a tourist and two operators on board, developed a snag, midair and landed near a house located in a field at Panchwadi on Monday.
The incident occurred around 7.30 am on Monday when the balloon ride operators tried to control and manage to land in a hurry at Egarziwada Panchwadi near a house located near a field. The Panchwadi locals panicked after they saw a hot air balloon landing in the field and later some foreign tourist coming out of it. They immediately informed the Ponda Police and the tourist is learnt to have immediately left the area safely.
Meanwhile, minutes after the Hot Air Balloon allegedly landed dangerously, the Goa Tourism Development Corporation (GTDC) clarified that it was not a crash landing. A press statement issued later in the evening, the GTDC said news about ‘the crash landing’ are totally false and attempts to malign the services which are successfully in operation in the State.
It has reiterated that agency Camping Retreats India, which is operating the service in Goa, maintains the highest safety standards and has never compromised on safety of hot air balloon flights. The flight that took off from Assolda on Monday also landed safely, the press released stated. The landing site though new on account of wind change followed all routine procedures. The clarification came after a local news channel (not HCN) aired that the hot air balloon had crashed while landing.
“During the last two years of this service in Goa, no untoward incident has ever occurred and every flight and landing has been safe and successful and the rides have been a delightful experience for all tourists who have availed of this adventure activity,” General Manager (GTDC) Gavin Dias said.
The hot air balloon service has trained pilots and over 100 rides have already created a buzz on the adventure tourism map of Goa resulting in an increasing demand and bookings from both foreign and domestic tourists.
