Fossett Breaks Record; Makes Emergency Landing
CNN
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Manston, England (UK):
After surviving a major fuel loss, some turbulence that nearly ripped his plane apart, and blowing out two tires on the landing, American adventurer Steve Fossett Saturday broke the world's flight distance record after traveling more than 26,000 miles (about 42,000 km) in 76 hours.
And he did it all on less than two hours' sleep.Minutes after officially setting the new world record over Shannon, Ireland, Fossett lost electricity aboard the single-engine turbofan aircraft and had to perform an emergency landing in Bournemouth, on the coast of southern England.
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See Also:
Fossett Sets Flight Distance Record
Fossett limps to long-distance flying record
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"As I was making my descent, the generator light came on and, as pilots, we know that's really serious," the 61-year-old millionaire said, noting the aircraft's back-up- battery lasts only about 25 minutes.Because of the ice that accumulated on the aircraft's canopy during the 76-hour and 45-minute trip, Fossett said he had "no visibility."
A grand reception had been planned at Kent airport. Instead, Fossett was greeted by Branson and about a dozen members of the fire brigade, who were present on the Bournemouth runway just as a precaution.Fossett landed at 5:07 p.m. (12:07 p.m. ET) in Bournemouth, about 100 miles west of Manston, where he took a short flight for the news conference.He had taken off from Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. Wednesday around 2:30 p.m. (7:30 a.m. ET).
During the first four hours of the flight, Fossett lost 750 pounds of fuel and had "barely enough fuel to complete the trip."All told, he traveled 26,389 miles in what was dubbed by Virgin Atlantic as "The Ultimate Flight." He shattered the previous records of 25,361 miles set by a balloon in 1999 and 24,987 miles set by a small aircraft in 1986.
feb 12, 2006
CNN
___
Manston, England (UK):
After surviving a major fuel loss, some turbulence that nearly ripped his plane apart, and blowing out two tires on the landing, American adventurer Steve Fossett Saturday broke the world's flight distance record after traveling more than 26,000 miles (about 42,000 km) in 76 hours.
And he did it all on less than two hours' sleep.Minutes after officially setting the new world record over Shannon, Ireland, Fossett lost electricity aboard the single-engine turbofan aircraft and had to perform an emergency landing in Bournemouth, on the coast of southern England.
__________________
See Also:
Fossett Sets Flight Distance Record
Fossett limps to long-distance flying record
__________________
"As I was making my descent, the generator light came on and, as pilots, we know that's really serious," the 61-year-old millionaire said, noting the aircraft's back-up- battery lasts only about 25 minutes.Because of the ice that accumulated on the aircraft's canopy during the 76-hour and 45-minute trip, Fossett said he had "no visibility."
A grand reception had been planned at Kent airport. Instead, Fossett was greeted by Branson and about a dozen members of the fire brigade, who were present on the Bournemouth runway just as a precaution.Fossett landed at 5:07 p.m. (12:07 p.m. ET) in Bournemouth, about 100 miles west of Manston, where he took a short flight for the news conference.He had taken off from Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. Wednesday around 2:30 p.m. (7:30 a.m. ET).
During the first four hours of the flight, Fossett lost 750 pounds of fuel and had "barely enough fuel to complete the trip."All told, he traveled 26,389 miles in what was dubbed by Virgin Atlantic as "The Ultimate Flight." He shattered the previous records of 25,361 miles set by a balloon in 1999 and 24,987 miles set by a small aircraft in 1986.
feb 12, 2006
