THIS is the terrifying moment hot air balloon passengers were filmed screaming and holding on for dear life as the craft carrying them crashes into a field.
Nicholas McCall filmed the horror ordeal and posted the 24-second clip online.
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In it, Nicholas can be seen enjoying his first ride in a hot air balloon over the Californian town of Perris, 80 miles north of San Diego.
But the youngster’s smile soon turned to anguish when a gush of wind blew the craft off-course and straight for land.
“Here we go!” the balloon’s guide can be heard shouting as passengers screamed.
“Hang on! Hang on! Hang on!” the instructor yells as winds send the basket hurtling towards to ground.
“Everybody hang on! Everybody hang on and stay in the basket!” he shouts again in the clip, which has been shared more than 650,000 times.
“In the basket with me! Stay on! Stay on! Stay on!” the man shouts again in the shakey footage as everyone braces for impact.
As the balloon crash lands, the camera bounces back and forth and the gondola is dragged across the ground at high speed as passengers hold on for dear life.
Thankfully, no one died and Nicholas later wrote: “Tik tok we are all okay don’t delete.”
Local outlet KABC-TV later reported that no one was injured in the crash.
It comes less than a year after five people were killed on a “bucket list trip” in a hot air balloon.
The tragic fall killed four passengers and the pilot after the balloon split from the basket, sending it crashing into a power line before falling to the ground in June last year.
The victims ranged in age from 59 to 65 years old.
They were identified as passengers Susan and John Montoya, Mary and Martin Martinez and pilot Nicholas Meleski, according to KOB-4.
The pilot of the balloon had been giving rides for forty years, his friends told KOAT, and leaves behind his wife and daughter.
The balloon’s basket crashed down on a street corner in the West Side of the New Mexico city.
The balloon piece was later found in the backyard of a home about a mile away.
Albuquerque Police Chief Harold Medina said that citizens who saw the crash came over with fire extinguishers to try to help the victims.
But tragically, four were pronounced dead at the scene and the fifth died later at the hospital.
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