The Hindu : Fossett completes solo balloon quest

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jul 03, 2002

International

International

Fossett completes solo balloon quest

KALGOORLIE (Australia) july 2. The American adventurer, Steve Fossett, drifted into aviation history on Tuesday, as he became the first man to fly a balloon solo around the world.

Flying through the darkness over the ocean south of Australia in his silvery Spirit of Freedom balloon, Mr. Fossett crossed east of 117 degrees longitude, the line from which he set off two weeks ago.

The Chicago investment millionaire covered more than 31,000 km on the trip, finally succeeding in his sixth attempt at the record.

``Steve has crossed the finishing line,'' said mission controller Joe Ritchie.

Speaking by satellite telephone, a calm sounding Mr. Fossett said: ``It is a wonderful time for me.''

``Finally after six flights I have succeeded and it is a very satisfying experience,'' he added. This time around Mr. Fossett had plenty of fuel, no rogue nations to avoid and enough spare oxygen to keep him on track. With weather largely on his side throughout the trip, Mr. Fossett completed the non-stop feat after five previous, crash-plagued attempts spread over more than six years, conquering one of aviation's last barriers.

After breaking the record, Mr. Fossett was expected to continue drifting across Australia for up to 18 more hours until he finds a safe place to land — most likely on southern Australia's vast Nullarbor Plain.

He couldn't immediately break open champagne in his cramped capsule.

``I cant do very much celebrating here,'' said Mr. Fossett. ``I do have a few bottles of Bud Light but I'm saving it for the landing. There's no one here to drink it with — that's the nature of solo flights.''

Bud Light sponsored Mr. Fossett's successful attempt.

As an official fax from Mr. Fossett's capsule rolled into the mission control at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, applause broke out and team members exchanged hugs in front of about 25 spectators and dozens of reporters. Even before he crossed the finish line, Mr. Fossett drew early congratulations from pals Bertrand Piccard of Switzerland and Brian Jones of England, who together in 1999 became the first balloonists ever to succeed in a round-the-world quest when they travelled over the Northern Hemisphere.

``We are very excited that this time seems to be the good one,'' Mr. Piccard told Mr. Fossett. ``And we hope the next 24 hours will allow you to fulfill your dream.''

Aside from a couple of turbulent patches, his flight was largely problem-free. During some stretches in recent days, winds pushed Mr. Fossett's balloon along at a race car-like speed of 322 kph. Mr. Fossett chose to fly over the Southern Hemisphere, as he did in 1998.

— AP

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