The pilot of an advertising blimp flying over Florence lost control and crashed into a park near the city centre on Friday.
The airship knocked down television antennae as it grazed the roofs of several buildings before slamming into trees in the Villa Fabbricotti public park and deflating.
Firemen were able to free the 47-year-old German pilot from the wreckage unharmed and there were no casualties on the ground.
The blimp had been publicising a web portal as part of the Pitti Uomo men's fashion event currently underway in the Tuscan capital.
It is thought that the accident was caused by a mechanical fault in the airship's steering system.
