KAUFMAN COUNTY (WBAP/KLIF News ) – The Kaufman County Fire Marshal is looking into what caused a hydrogen balloon to crash into a powerline near Crandall just before 7:30 Monday night. It happened near US 175 and FM 741.
Two pilots, Krzystotf Zapart and Pjotr Halas, from Swidnica, Poland, were on board and managed to escape the potentially deadly disaster with minor injuries.
They were taken to Parkland Hospital in Dallas.
Witnesses told authorities it looked like the balloon was attempting to land with descended sand bags just before the balloon hit the power lines.
In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Gordon Bennett gas balloon race officials say they were aware of an accident involving “Poland Team 1,” which was was part of the national “Coupe Aeronautique Gordon Bennett Gas Balloon Race.”
After the accident, Oncor crews briefly enforced a volunteer power outage in the area to fix the damaged lines.
The balloon launched from the Albuquerque International Balloon Festival on October 7.
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