Romantic couples brought crashing back down to earth

LOVE was in the air for three Melbourne couples who got engaged during a hot-air balloon ride over the city yesterday morning.

But their romantic bubbles were burst when their balloon crash-landed in a tree in Eltham North.

Peter Giannopoulos, 29, asked his girlfriend Yiota Antonelou, 28, to marry him while they were in the air before the morning took a turn.

“I just wanted to do something a little bit romantic,” he said. “I thought it would be outside the box.”

And he thought right.

Shortly after he got the “yes”, the balloon (above) had to be chainsawed down after a dramatic landing in trees on Ramptons Rd, Eltham, about 7.30am.

Brendan O’Loughlin, 29, also surprised his girlfriend Emma Govan, 30, when he proposed to her in the air.

The primary school teacher was looking forward to telling her students and family all about her eventful proposal for years to come.

“I can’t wipe the smile off my face,” she said.

“It’s pretty amazing. It’s going to be one to remember.”

The pilot Chris Shorten dealt with the “light and variable weather conditions“perfectly, according to commercial hot air ballooning spokesman Damian Crock.

None of the 10 on-board were injured in the crash but the balloon was destroyed.