Russian Breaks Round-the-world Hot Air Balloon Record: Crew

Russian breaks round-the-world hot air balloon record: crew

SYDNEY,(APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 23rd july,2016) - Russian adventurer Fedor Konyukhov on Saturday broke the record for the fastest round-the-world flight in a hot air balloon, his crew said. Flight coordinator John Wallington said Konyukhov, who took off from Western Australia on July 12, had successfully flown the route by Saturday afternoon but had yet to land. His journey, taking just over 11 days, is faster than the record set by the late American adventurer Steve Fossett who in 2002 became the first person to fly solo around the world in a balloon in a feat which took 13 days.

"The record is broken -- no question," Wallington told AFP, adding that Konyukhov had flown his balloon almost exactly over his starting point.

"He flew over the same field which he took off from." The flight route has taken Konyukhov, who is in his 60s, from Australia to above New Zealand, across the Pacific Ocean, South America, the Cape of Good Hope and the Southern Ocean.