Balloonist close to breaking his solo distance record

ST. LOUIS -- American adventurer Steve Fossett on Saturday closed in on the coast of South Africa and on breaking his own record for distance covered by a solo balloonist.

As of 4 p.m. Saturday the 58-year-old Chicago millionaire had traveled 13,790 miles since launching his latest around-the-world balloon quest June 18, about 445 miles short of the distance he covered in a 1998 attempt that began in Argentina and ended with a crash landing in the Coral Sea.

If he continues cruising at 44 mph, Fossett was expected to eclipse the distance mark early today, according to his mission control center at Washington University. Fossett could complete the trip by early this week, weather permitting.

"Everything is going according to plan," David Dehenauw, a meteorologist at Fossett's flight center, said as Fossett was nearing Port Elizabeth, South Africa.

This is Fossett's sixth attempt to complete the around-the-world solo flight. His fifth try set a duration record in August 2001 of 12 days, 12 hours and 57 minutes aloft.

No balloonist yet has successfully made the around-the-world trip alone, although Swiss pilot Bertrand Piccard and English co-pilot Brian Jones did it as a team in March 1999 in the Northern Hemisphere.

Fossett holds world records in ballooning, sailing and flying airplanes. He also swam the English Channel in 1985 and placed 47th in the Iditarod dog sled race in 1992.