Occupants survived

Hot air balloon crashes into power line in the USA

(Bild: kamaeraone)

Three passengers who were traveling in a hot air balloon in Rochester, Minnesota, were incredibly lucky: the aircraft collided with a high-voltage power line and the basket crashed to the ground. The accident victims survived the fall from a height of several meters.

A traffic camera captured the dramatic accident on Wednesday evening. It shows sparks flying as the hot air balloon crashes into the pipeline. Firefighters then reported that the basket was floating in the sky without the basket after the accident - this can also be seen clearly in the video.

Here you can see the recording from the traffic camera:

Gust of wind took balloon off course
The police also reported that the balloon detached from the basket after the accident - the passengers then fell to the ground from a height of nine meters. Initial investigations revealed that the balloon was about to land in a field when a gust of wind blew it against the power lines.

The passengers were incredibly lucky. Two of the passengers stated that they had suffered "very minor injuries". After the crash, a fire broke out in the meadow at the scene of the accident - but the fire department was able to bring it under control quickly.