Historic balloon flight ends off Mexico
Print Edition
A gas-filled balloon co-piloted by an American and a Russian have touched down safely in the waters off Mexico, completing a week-long trans-Pacific flight that unofficially broke two world records.
The balloon carrying Troy Bradley of Albuquerque, New Mexico, and his Russian co-pilot Leonid Tiukhtyaev, landed on Saturday near La Poza Grande in the Mexican State of Baja California Sur after a flight that lasted six days, 16 hours and 38 minutes and covered 10,696 kilometers, organizers of the mission said in a statement.
Bradley and Tiukhtyaev, known as the Two Eagles, left Saga in southern Japan on January 25 in their bid to surpass the world distance record for flying a gas-filled balloon, as well as the record for time in flight for that type of aircraft. Both records need to be certified before becoming official.
“The pilots made a controlled descent to a gentle water landing about four miles off the Baja coast,” said Kim Vesely, a spokeswoman for the mission.
During the balloon’s descent, winds turned parallel to the coast, making it more prudent for the pilots to execute a landing in the water, she said.
The New Mexico-based team that oversaw the flight later said in a statement the two pilots were picked up by a fishing boat and taken to shore.
“We would note that a water landing is acceptable under the international rules governing the establishment of world records,” Vesely said.
The National Aeronautic Association and the Federation Aeronautique Internationale need to certify the records, officials with the mission said.
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