ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - An international organization has ratified duration and distance records set by two pilots who completed a flight across the Pacific Ocean in a helium-filled balloon.
The Federation Aeronautique Internationale said Thursday it ratified records for distance of more than 6,650 miles and for duration of 160 hours and 34 minutes for Troy Bradley, of Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Leonid Tiukhtyaev, of Russia.
The Two Eagles balloon landed early Jan. 31 just off the coast of Baja California after being aloft for nearly seven days from Japan.
The men beat a 137-hour duration record set in 1978 by the Double Eagle crew in a cross-Atlantic flight.
They also exceeded the distance record of 5,209 miles set by the Double Eagle V team during the first trans-Pacific flight in 1981.