Three balloonists who lifted off from Presque Isle Friday night hoping to fly to Europe landed in eastern New Brunswick early Saturday because of unfavorable weather.
Sir David Hempleman-Adams, 66, of England; Bert Padelt, 62, of Pennsylvania; and Swiss scientist Frederick Paulson, 72; landed the hydrogen-filled Torabhaig Atlantic Explorer at approximately 5:40 a.m., Saturday near Christie’s Landing, NB, according to their website. The trio left the ground at 10:30 p.m. and traveled approximately 185 miles.
The weather conditions would have required them to fly at a higher than anticipated altitude, which would have meant jettisoning more of their ballast than planned, according to a post on their website.
The open basket in which the men flew had 160, 30-pound sandbags attached to it when it took off. The balloonists planned to regularly drop sandbags during their flight in order to reduce weight and maintain altitude at night. During the day, the sun would help lift the balloon. The crew determined they would not have enough sandbags to complete the Atlantic crossing and landed safely.
The website did not indicate if the men planned to resume the flight.
Padelt, Hempleman-Adams and Paulson returned to Presque Isle this year after abandoning their planned fall 2023 launch because of unfavorable weather conditions. They calculated the trip to an undisclosed location in Europe would take four to five days. Had they succeeded, they said it would have been the first transatlantic flight in an open-basket hydrogen balloon.
The Double Eagle II took off from Presque Isle in 1978 and completed the first successful transatlantic hot air balloon flight.
