Pilots flying across Pacific Ocean accomplish "holy grail" of ballooning

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- The pilots of a helium-filled balloon flying across the Pacific Ocean surpassed a duration record Friday as they approach North America, marking a historic day for the team that already has eclipsed a distance milestone.

Pilots Troy Bradley of Albuquerque and Leonid Tiukhtyaev of Russia were headed south along the California coast when they surpassed the duration record of 137 hours, 5 minutes and 50 seconds aloft in a traditional gas balloon. They met the goal by spending 138 hours and 27 minutes in the balloon.

The pair launched from Saga, Japan, shortly before 6:30 a.m. Sunday Japan time, eclipsed the distance record of 5,209 miles Thursday and are expected to land in Mexico early Saturday.

The team tweeted a photo of Mount Fuji on the first day of the journey:

The duration milestone is considered the "holy grail" of ballooning. It was set in 1978 when Ben Abruzzo, Maxie Anderson and Larry Newman made the first trans-Atlantic balloon flight.

To establish a record, international aviation rules required Bradley and Tiukhtyaev to stay aloft 1 percent longer than the current record.

The distance and time aloft still have to be confirmed by the Federation Aeronautique Internationale, a process that can take weeks or even months.

As the pilots matched the milestone, the team at mission control sat in front of their laptops analyzing weather patterns and the balloon's tracking systems.

Paul Jorgenson, the team's air traffic control coordinator, said he talked to the team overnight and they were doing well.

"The crew is in good spirits," he said. "The plan is in place, and the plan is being executed."

That plan calls for the balloon to continue tracking south toward Baja California, Mexico, for a landing Saturday morning. Once the pilots reach the sand dunes of the peninsula, they would have traveled an estimated 6,835 miles.

The team originally planned to cross into North America in Canada but shifted the plans because of changing weather. They are now catching a wind pattern that will take them south.

When the balloon hit the distance mark Thursday, it was about 400 miles northwest of San Francisco. Everyone inside the control room had their smartphones pointed at the screen to document the moment.

"There it is! There it is!" shouted team members at the flight's mission control in Albuquerque as a giant screen showed the helium-filled Two Eagles balloon passing the record set by the Double Eagle V in 1981.

In a video posted on Twitter, Bradley said the pilots were having a "wonderful time" during the flight:

In a matter of hours, they hit another milestone in similar fashion when they reached 5,260 miles. That's the distance needed to meet in their quest to establish a record.

"We're not taking any time to celebrate," said Steve Shope, head of mission control. "We have a lot of work we have to do, and we're just taking this flight one hour at a time."

The shifting weather patterns that sent the landing from Canada to Mexico was tough on the pilots, who have been on oxygen for days and in high altitude that can take a physical toll, Shope said

Because weather conditions vary at different altitudes, the pilots traded speed and altitude throughout Thursday so the balloon would track to the south.

"It's a pretty sophisticated dance up there," said Ray Bair, a member of the mission control team.

The balloon is outfitted with an array of monitors and other instruments that are tracking its course and compiling data to be submitted to the record-keepers. With a massive, helium-filled envelope and a specially-designed carbon fiber-composite capsule, it was designed to stay aloft for up to 10 days, but the loss of gas and ballast has shortened that time by a couple of days.

The last task will be a safe landing.

Sand dunes along the peninsula were looking like the best option, Bair said. There are more favorable spots immediately along the Mexican coast, but then come the mountains.