Fossett Found After Balloon Goes Down in South Pacific

ST. LOUIS â€”  Balloonist and millionaire adventurer Steve Fossett was found in the South Pacific on Sunday, eight hours after his attempt to fly around the world ended when his balloon went down in possibly hazardous waters.

“We’ve been sweating bullets . . . so we’re feeling pretty good,� rescue coordinator Joe Ritchie said.

Fossett was found alive after ditching in the Coral Sea off Queensland state, an Australian Maritime Safety Authority spokesman said.

He was sighted at 8:10 a.m. today, Australian time, by a French patrol aircraft that dropped a raft that Fossett climbed inside, the spokesman said.

The French aircraft was to continue to circle Fossett until an Australian transport plane arrived with emergency supplies. That plane was then expected to remain with him until a ship arrived, the spokesman said.

There was no sign of the balloon’s capsule, which was believed to have sunk.

Fossett had been two-thirds of the way through his effort. The balloon was 500 miles off the Australian coast heading toward its final destination of Argentina when contact was lost, according to Alan Blount, director of mission control at Washington University in St. Louis.

Seas in the area were relatively calm, but the crew was concerned because the area is near a coral reef that could be full of sharks. The balloon ran into trouble shortly after midnight Australian time.

About five hours before the locator sounded, meteorologist Bob Rice had cautioned Fossett that he was approaching strong thunderstorms, and they would be nearly impossible to avoid.

“There’s a good chance that there might have been a lightning hit on the capsule,� Rice said. “But these balloons are very strong. It’s just too early to know what happened.�

Australian and French officials had sent rescue planes to the spot to drop survival gear--a raft, water, first-aid supplies. Fossett was equipped with a wetsuit and life raft, and the capsule of the balloon is seaworthy but not leakproof.

At mission control, a dozen crew members worked to find Fossett. A map on the wall tracked his trip, showing how far he’d gone: a record 15,200 miles.

It also showed how far he had to go: a stretch of the Pacific Ocean between Australia and Argentina, the site of his Aug. 7 launch.

It was the Chicago man’s fourth attempt to fly around the world.

Meanwhile, a French adventurer broke Fossett’s record for sailing across the Pacific. Bruno Peyron and his crew sailed under the Golden Gate Bridge in the afternoon, about six hours later than expected because of diminished winds.

The catamaran, the Explorer, set sail from Yokohama, Japan, on Aug. 2 and eclipsed Fossett’s 1995 record by two days.