1986 Hit Rock Song Inspired a Music Video That Nearly Ended in Disaster

In the 1980s, legendary Australian rock band INXS ventured out to the moon plains of Coober Pedy in South Australia on an adventure to get the perfect setting for the music video of their hit song, "Kiss the Dirt (Falling Down the Mountain)." While they were successful, resulting in a visually stunning and memorable video, their flight home nearly ended with members of INXS losing their lives.

Guitarist Tim Farriss revealed the story of the dangerous flight back from filming in an interview with American Songwriter in 2025. He recalled how he took a nap on the plane ride back from the desert, only to wake up and find out that the pilot also decided to sleep for a bit.

"Everyone on the plane was asleep, including the pilot, and I was like, ‘Hey, what's going on here?' Andrew [Farriss, his brother] was flying the f**king plane. He's not a pilot," he remembered.

The band's saxophonist and guitarist, Kirk Pengilly, claimed that the pilot asked Andrew if he wanted to "have a steer" before promptly falling asleep. He added, "We don't know how long he was asleep, but Andrew was frozen because he didn't want to take his hand off the steering wheel in case something would happen."

To make the situation even more tense, once they managed to shake the pilot awake, they asked him if they knew where they were at the time. He said he could show them on a chart, but unfortunately, the charts were outside on the wing of the plane.

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Luckily, they made it to their destination, but their landing wasn't without its own issues. When they touched down, a tire blew out, forcing the plane to do a 360-degree spin before they were finally safe and sound on solid ground.

Pengilly laughed about the experience years later, saying in the interview, "Everyone was fine, but it was really out there. It was like a Crocodile Dundee movie."

"Kiss the Dirt (Falling Down the Mountain)" was released as the third official single on INXS' acclaimed fifth studio album, Listen Like Thieves. It came out in March 1986.

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This story was originally published May 19, 2026 at 8:27 AM.