Balloon crew sets distance world record

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Two pilots soaring over the Pacific Ocean made history Thursday, first matching and then surpassing the 5,209-mile official world distance record for human flight in a gas balloon.

“There it is! There it is!” shouted team members at the flight’s mission control in Albuquerque as a giant screen showed the Two Eagles balloon passing the record set by the Double Eagle V in 1981.

The balloon was about 400 miles northwest of San Francisco when it hit the mark. Everyone inside the control room documented the moment with their smartphones.

In a matter of hours, they hit another milestone in similar fashion when they reached the 5,260-mile mark. That’s the distance – 1 percent more than the current record – they needed to meet in their quest to establish a record under international aviation rules.

The distance still has to be confirmed by the Federation Aeronautique Internationale.

The Two Eagles pilots, Troy Bradley of Albuquerque and Leonid Tiukhtyaev of Russia, are aiming to set both distance and duration records with their flight from Saga, Japan, which began shortly before 6:30 a.m. Sunday Japan time.

The duration record was set in 1978 when Ben Abruzzo, Maxie Anderson and Larry Newman made the first trans-Atlantic balloon flight. That record of 137 hours, 5 minutes and 50 seconds in the air in a traditional gas balloon is considered the “holy grail” of ballooning achievements. The Two Eagles team expected to surpass it today.