OK!
The line that was contacted was a 3 wire 11,000 volt circuit.
That 3 wires physically separated by a metre and 6 m or greater above ground level.
It is supported on wood poles spaced about 100 m apart.
Now if the contact was made mid span it is likely the added tension would bring the conductors close enough for there to be a direct short between them. (big flash, big bang)
Closer to the poles it would require the current to be carried by the fabric of the balloon, which as a man-made fibre is quite unlikely.
In this case there was a short which actually snapped at least one of the conductors and it would have been seen and switchgear would have operated
THIS DOES NOT MAKE IT SAFE NOR IS IT CLASSED AS DEAD UNTIL THE COMPANY HAS PHYSICALLY INTERVENED ON SITE AND CONNECTED EVERY CONDUCTOR TO EARTH.
Yet the balloon operator chose to quickly pack up, with no idea if the line was safe or not and leave site, no doubt to avoid being identified and getting a big bill for the repairs.
It is also common on overhead line circuits that some form of auto reclose is in use, in this case the circuit would trip and then a few seconds later reclose. A common addition to overhead circuits to maintain supplies when the likes of, say, a bird contacts two conductors and then falls to the ground.
This could have occurred in this case and the circuit become live after the first trip.
The only time a neutral comes into play is on 230/400V lines, and as it must be bonded to earth it is always at 0 volts on the network
Last edited by west lakes; 19th Jul 2015 at 19:17.