Overview

• The balloon descended over Bower Street in Bedford at about 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, touching down without injuries.
• Eyewitness Sam Coldham grabbed a guide rope as others joined to steer the basket away from houses, parked cars and overhead wires.
• Witnesses said the pilot had aimed for nearby Russell Park and that very still conditions may have sapped momentum.
• Video shows the basket clearing chimneys by a narrow margin before onlookers helped settle it into the road and it began to deflate.
• Ballooning is regulated by the UK Civil Aviation Authority, incidents are uncommon, and the AAIB is probing a separate Essex case reported earlier this year.