Solo Spirit Mission Ends

Fossett in Good Health

At an early morning news conference at mission control at Washington University in St. Louis, Fossett's team said Fossett made the decision after they had conferred about bad weather conditions that Fossett was bound to face.

"There comes a point when even by round the world balloonists' standards the risk is too high," said Joe Ritchie, Fossett's friend and mission control director. "And I think that Steve looked out at three solid days hanging in a balloon flying through a front over the Atlantic. He just decided that point had come. I think if a round the world balloonist decides the risks are too high, then us mortals would surely agree."

"This morning we were looking at development around the balloon, some redevelopment out in front of it, " said Bob Rice, mission meteorologist. "It's a very long flight, as you all know. It was quite slow. We probably averaged no more than 40 knots. With this sort of a plan you really should be averaging 50 to 60 knots. By the time we were making the decision, it just didn't seem quite right."

At a later news conference, Fossett, via phone, said, "We had a really bad day yesterday. I knew I was going to go through isolated thunderstorms, but it turned out to be a minefield of thunderstorms."

Fossett landed 100 miles from the Atlantic Ocean, and had to factor in the possibility of a water landing. "Water landings are extremely dangerous, " said Fossett, who three years ago made a harrowing landing in the Coral Sea. "I did not want to expose myself to a 50-50 chance. You can't take odds like that. You have to believe you can make it."

In what Tim Cole, project manager, said was in many ways a very successful flight; a delayed take off from Australia was one of the key factors in the mission's early conclusion. "Ground conditions at launch made a difference," said Rice. "We lost six or seven hours."

In the end, however, the major factor was bad weather.

Oxygen, which was a concern throughout the last five days of the mission, was not a factor in the decision to end the mission.

Although Fossett failed in his fifth attempt to be the first to circumnavigate the globe solo, he set duration and distance records for solo ballooning. When he crossed the southern Pacific Ocean, he also became the first balloonist to fly over five oceans.

Fossett said that the local people have been very supportive since his landing. "People were willing to do anything to help me," he said. "A couple from the area will be putting me up for the night."

Fossett would not speculate whether he will attempt yet another mission. But Fossett always has shown his resilience.

"Steve's the most determined guy that sets out to do anything that I know," Ritchie said. "It's like the kid in him that he didn't grow out of. It's what's charming about him. It's a characteristic he's got that I admire."

Fossett said he was feeling surprisingly good despite an initial sense of great disappointment. "Round the world ballooning can be done," he said. "We just had the misfortune of bad weather patterns. I have a lot of ballooning achievements, but I really wanted the capstone achievement of a round the world flight."