TEN passengers and a pilot had a lucky escape after a hot-air balloon collided with a 132,000 volt electricity pylon in Bordon. Tens of thousands of homes experienced a dip in power and 50 homes in the Alton area lost electricity completely when the balloon crashed into the pylon in Station Road at 7-15 pm on Easter Sunday. The stricken balloon, operated by Adventure Balloons Ltd, came to rest in a field. The fire service, police and ambulance were called and found the balloon behind Bordon Trading Estate. The passengers and pilot escaped uninjured. An investigation is now underway into the cause of the crash. Kim Hull, the director of the balloon company, said: "The Air Accident Investigation branch performed an inspection of the landing site the following day with the company's personnel in order to investigate the cause of the contact. The results of this will be combined with a full internal investigation as to any lessons that can be used for the future. "The balloon will be inspected by authorised Civil Aviation inspectors in order to establish any repairs required. These are normal steps in any incident involving a hot0air balloon operating in the United Kingdom for public transport under an Air Operators Certificate issued by the Civil Aviation Authority." He added that the organisation flies more than 4,000 passengers every year and has operating for more than 22 years. Mr Hull continued: "Adventure Balloons is the longest-running hot-air balloon rides company in the South East of England and has an excellent safety record within the industry. Hot-air ballooning in the United Kingdom has the best safety record of all forms of aviation." The balloon was filmed, just before it crashed, by Adrian Marsh of Oakhanger. Mr Marsh, who filmed the balloon as it passed over his home, said: "We just came out to have a look at it because we thought it was going to land at the back and we took the camera just to see what was happening. "We didn't expect it to come back up again, over the trees and just above the house, and we just watched it as it went off into the distance. We did think it was going quite quickly and low, but then it was very windy. "It seemed to just stop when it got over to the station and I guess that is when it got hung up on the cables. I didn't think anything of it at the time because we see a lot of balloons around this area and we just assumed that they had landed and it wasn't until the following morning I saw on television that there had been an an incident. "When we went in we saw that there had been a short power cut and soon after we saw an ambulance and a fire engine rushing down the road. Had the basket hit the cable a bit higher it may have been much more serious." The 50 homes that were affected were in Herriard, Bentworth, Lasham, Western Corbett, Tunworth and Ellisfield. A spokeswoman from Southern Electric said: "As soon as the balloon hit the wires, as a safety precaution the system automatically shuts off. "Then it starts up again a couple of times. There was no damage to the line. Engineers visited the area on Sunday night and Monday morning." This was not the first time an Adventure Balloon Ltd balloon has run into difficulty in local area. Almost two years to the day, a hot- air balloon carrying 20 passengers was forced to make an unplanned landing in a Frith End field. No was injured in that incident.