A Novosibirsk man has been fined for taking his automobile for a ride on a hot air balloon.
Garage 54, a group of automotive video bloggers, published a video in August of the stunt, which they dubbed “the world’s first flying car.”
The footage shows a lime-green Soviet-era Oka compact vehicle, strapped to a hot air balloon where the passenger basket would traditionally be, being lifted into the air with the driver inside.
On Thursday, Novosibirsk transport prosecutors announced that they had found the flying vehicle’s “pilot” in administrative violation of airspace use and aircraft handling laws. He was fined 6,700 rubles ($116), according to the transport prosecutor’s office.
Prosecutors requested that a Novosibirsk court ban the balloon owner from operating it until he acquired a medical note, a pilot’s license, and aircraft documentation.
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