Helicopter drying cherries clips power line in Benton City, leaving residents in the dark

Power was knocked out to more than 1,000 people after a helicopter hit a power line in Benton City.

The helicopter was working in a cherry orchard off of Accord Road, when it clipped a power line about 6:45 p.m. on Sunday, the Benton County Sheriff’s Office and Benton REA said in Facebook posts.

Helicopters are used in cherry orchards when it rains to dry the fruit to keep it from getting ruined by the moisture.

The helicopter was able to land safely and no one was hurt, the sheriff’s office said.

The Federal Aviation Administration was notified about the collision and will conduct an investigation, the sheriff’s office said.

The cut power line caused an outage to people served by Benton REA in Benton City and Prosser. It took nearly two hours to bring power back to the about 1,100 people who lost power.