Balloonist team shatters a pair of major records
ALBUQUERQUE — An audacious, nearly 7,000-milelong trip across the Pacific Ocean came to an end Saturday as two accomplished pilots safely touched down in the water just off the coast of Mexico in their helium-filled balloon after shattering two longstanding records.
Troy Bradley of Albuquerque and Leonid Tiukhtyaev of Russia landed 4 miles offshore in Baja California about 300 miles north of the popular beach destination of Cabo San Lucas. Initial plans called for a landing on the beach, but the pilots decided to come in low and drop trailing ropes into the ocean to help slow the balloon for a controlled water landing.
Mission control in Albuquerque was packed with supporters of the Two Eagles team as the balloon descended, with all eyes focused on a giant screen showing a map of the coast and the balloon’s location. It wasn’t until the crowd received word that the pilots were safe and aboard a fishing boat headed to the shore that cheers erupted and the cork was popped on a bottle of Champagne.
“I can say on behalf of the entire mission control center, that we are all very excited and relieved,” mission control director Steve Shope said.
Bradley and Tiukhtyaev lifted off from Japan last Sunday. 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. They also easily exceeded the distance record of 5,209 miles set by the Double Eagle V team during the first trans-Pacific flight in 1981.
By the time they landed Saturday, the pilots had traveled 6,646 miles over six days, 16 hours and 38 minutes.
“These are significant improvements over the existing records,” Shope said. “We didn’t break them by just a little bit. They were broken by a significant amount.”
The world has been tracking the progress of the Two Eagles Balloon online and through social media sites. Still, the official distance and time of the flight must be confirmed by the Federation Aeronautique Internationale.
The trip was a grueling ordeal given the number of days the pilots spent in the cramped balloon capsule. At high altitudes, they had to wear oxygen masks and bundle up against the 50-degree temperature inside the capsule. They had sleeping bags, a small heater and a simple toilet.
Family members joked Saturday that the pilots were unshaven and in need of showers.