Three balloonists narrowly escaped when their hot air balloon snagged on a medieval church spire over the weekend, leaving them suspended 230 feet above the ground for 40 minutes.

The balloon deflated when it collided Sunday with the tower of St. Jacob’s church in the northwestern city of Ghent. Its passengers were trapped in the tiny basket, swinging in the wind from the church’s iron cross and eluding the reach of the fire department’s tallest ladders.

Firefighters eventually scaled the interior of the 15th-century spire, broke through the tiled roof, attached cables to stop the basket’s swinging and rescued the balloonists.

The balloon’s pilot and his two passengers were hospitalized for shock but otherwise unharmed.