LOS ANGELES (PINA) — A big thunderstorm over the South Pacific has slowed American balloonist Steve Fossett’s high-speed run across the Pacific, according to news media reports.
They said Fossett deliberately slowed to dodge a thunderstorm that could thwart his sixth attempt to become the first solo balloonist to circle the world nonstop.
Fossett, a 58-year-old American millionaire, descended to just 400 meters above the Pacific from his cruising altitude of 7,000 meters.
It came as he drifted south of Easter Island, between Tahiti and South America.
Meteorologists at his mission control in the United States told Fossett to go low to avoid getting sucked into an air stream that would have pushed him into dangerous weather, the reports said.
Fossett dropped his speed from 70 kmh to 34 kmh.
Fossett is expected to cross the coast of Chile early in the new week as he continues a journey that began with lift-off on Wednesday from the Australian outback.
His last bid ended less than a year ago after 12 days of flight.
Fossett is averaging four to six hours of sleep each night, better than on other trips, said Barry Tobias, assistant air traffic control coordinator at mission control.
The drop in altitude allowed Fosset to take off the oxygen mask and breathe fresh air, Reuters news agency reported.
He must wear the mask at all times at higher altitudes and removes it only to eat his military-style rations.
Outside his closet-sized and non-pressurized capsule, Fossett sees nothing but a “whole lot of blue,” Tobias was quoted by Reuters as saying.
“It doesn’t look like he’ll be seeing much of anything until he reaches Chile,” he said.
In his last round-the-world attempt in August, Fossett took 12 days to reach Chile from Australia due to slow winds. He is currently on track to cross that distance in half the time, Reuters reported.
When he approaches the lower half of South America, Fossett will attempt to raise his altitude to cross the Andes mountains, the news agency said.
Treacherous winds over the peaks last year bounced him around violently and forced him to strap on his emergency parachute for fear the balloon would burst. After 24 hours of lightning storms, he ended his attempt in Brazil, a little past the halfway mark.
