Witness describes 'scary' hot air balloon crash in Methven

A witness has described the "scary" moment a hot air balloon crashed down into trees in Canterbury's Methven this morning.

Around 10 hot air balloons were launched shortly before 8.30am from the showgrounds on Methven Chertsey Rd to celebrate the return of Methven's Fire & Ice festival.

Two people were injured, and St John said one person was taken a local medical centre in a minor condition.

Vera Prazak told 1News she was dropping off her daughter at school when they pulled over to watch the balloons go by.

"Then, all of a sudden, I watched the balloons going, 'oh my God, it's getting caught in the trees'. And I watched it getting caught on those lines on the trees, falling down and then getting stuck in the tree," she said.

"They all just crashed down with the basket, and then there were a lot of cars coming in and it was near the medical centre so I knew they would be alright, "she said.

"I always said I'm never going to get into a hot air balloon anyway, but this is the second crash I've seen.

"And it was scary. It was just praying they're not going to tip over and they'd get safely down."

Thomas Church said he was piloting one of the other balloons in the sky this morning when the crash occurred.

"We all set off from the A&P showground in Methven and one of the balloons had a rope caught on a tree and it pulled him down onto the ground, and that's as much as I know," he said.

Church added that the festivities would still go ahead on Sunday, and that nothing would change despite the incident or forecasted heavy rain.

Earlier, Fire and Emergency New Zealand said it was called shortly before 8.30am after the hot air balloon crashed into a tree during its ascent.

Two trucks from Methven responded to the scene, along with other emergency services.

Police have been contacted for comment.