Pilot's quick-thinking averts disaster as hot air balloon lands in backyard

Passengers on board a hot air balloon forced to make an emergency landing in a Melbourne backyard have praised the pilot for his swift and calm thinking.

The flight came down at the back of a Glen Iris home this morning after light and variable winds made an oval landing impossible.

All ten passengers board escaped without serious injury after the balloon was steered clear of powerlines and set down in the Faircroft Avenue yard, which is roughly ten metres by five metres.

"It came up as an option through a little bit of a luck and a little bit of skill," Global Ballooning pilot Steve Buckley said.

"I took it as it was. The wind started to go one way and then another and then another so I found myself kind of doing doughnuts around this area."

Passengers said Mr Buckley had reassured them everything was fine.

"He was calming us down, every time something was going on he was giving us a heads up saying, 'this is what is going to happen, this is what is going to happen' and he said 'we are going to land'," one woman told 9News.

Another man on board said the balloon made a comfortable landing.

"The winds didn't agree with us today and ended up drifting a little bit and got to a point that we couldn't find a landing zone

"We came down pretty smoothly, it wasn't too bad.

"We broke a fence and out a bouncy house but other than that it was pretty good."