Major operation to begin to remove crane that collapsed onto Melbourne home

A major operation will get underway today to remove a 16-tonne crane that crashed onto a home in Melbourne’s south-west.

A mother and her young baby were lucky to escape uninjured after the crane, lowering a spa, collapsed onto the Finley Road home in Altona about 11am yesterday.

Exclusive 9News video captured the moment the crane was attempting to slowly lower the spa into the backyard.

Suddenly, the drop takes a dramatic turn, and the spa clips the eaves of the neighbouring home before tumbling to the ground.

The large crane quickly followed and topples over with a loud crashing noise.

"That did not go well," a witness behind the camera says.

At the time woman and her newborn were inside the home, and were forced to jump out of the way. Both mother and child avoided injury.

The driver of the crane aged in his 40s was trapped inside the machine for a short amount of time, but a colleague helped him escape uninjured.

Worksafe and police have been notified of the incident with investigations now underway.

9News understands strong winds will be probed as a possible cause.