Fire crews from Bentham, Setlle and Hornby, together with a heavy rescue unit from Tadcaster, were mobilised to a Police report of a hot air balloon carrying persons, downed, after striking powerlines, north of Keasden, near Bentham yesterday evening (8 Aug 20112
On attendance from 2100 hours, the crews from Bentham and Settle found that the balloon had struck and brought down the 11,000 volt powerline, with the underside of it’s basket. From there, at a height of approximately six metres, the balloon had then come to earth. Fortunately, the balloon’s male pilot, together with nine male and seven female passengers, were reported as being unharmed.
Firecrews made the area safe and cordoned off the still live powerlines until the arrival of an electrical engineer.
The incident was closed shortly before 2200 hours.
