Three hospitalized after hot air balloon hits live power line in California
One passenger suffered serious burns after a hot air balloon carrying 20 people crashed into a live power line in Yountville, California.
Three people were hurt -- including one who suffered a "moderate to major injury" -- when a hot air balloon hit a power line in Northern California on Monday, officials said.
The incident happened around 8:10 a.m. in Yountville, located in Napa County in California's Wine Country.
"As they descended, according to the pilot, [they] may not have been able to see the power lines, or did not pick them up, and ended up passing between two power poles, taking down the lines as it passed through," Battalion Chief Jason Martin of Cal Fire Napa County told KTVU.
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The three passengers on board sustained electrical burns of varying degrees, according to fire officials.
Martin told KTVU that two minor injuries were reported, while a person with a "moderate to major injury" needed to be airlifted to UC Davis Medical Center Burn Center in Sacramento.
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"It came down a pretty good speed. But, like I said, you can't steer them," construction foreman Eric Young told KTVU. "You can't operate them. So when they come down, they come down."
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The incident in Yountville came a month and a half after another hot air balloon was forced to make a hard landing on Skaggs Island in neighboring Sonoma County when high winds were reported.
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Officials said the pilot was forced to make the emergency landing because high winds were pushing that hot air balloon toward power lines
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Between 1964 to 2014, the U.S. experienced about 15 balloon accidents a year. But in all that time, only 70 people were killed, according to KTVU.
The National Transportation Safety Board is now investigating the incident.
Fox News' Katherine Lam contributed to this report.
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