After historic balloon journey, crew plans Saturday landing

Two pilots from the U.S. and Russia have travelled farther and longer in a gas balloon than anyone in history. The Two Eagles pilots surpassed the distance and duration records that have held since the 1970s and 1980s, and were aiming Saturday for a safe landing somewhere on a beach in Mexico’s Baja California peninsula. Troy Bradley of Albuquerque and Leonid Tiukhtyaev of Russia lifted off from Japan last Sunday, and by Friday, they beat what’s considered the “holy grail” of ballooning achievements, the 137-hour duration record set in 1978 by the Double Eagle crew of Ben Abruzzo, Maxie Anderson and Larry Newman in the first balloon flight across the Atlantic.

The technology has improved so much in the last couple of years. I don’t think there’s going to be any question about the records.

Katie Griggs, a regional director with the nonprofit Balloon Federation of America

By early Saturday morning, the Two Eagles team had been in the air nearly 155 hours and smashed the distance record, having travelled more than 10,460 kilometres, including the crossing of the Pacific Ocean. Their first target was the official distance record of 8,383 km set by the Double Eagle V team during the first trans-Pacific flight in 1981. They surpassed that on Thursday. The official distance and time of the Two Eagles flight must be confirmed by the Federation Aeronautique Internationale, which requires staying aloft 1% longer and farther than the previous record.

We’re very excited. The pilots are excited. I think they’re ready to land.

Steve Shope, the flight’s mission control director

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