Hoping For Better Winds

Millionaire adventurer Steve Fossett's attempt to make the first nonstop balloon trip around the world has reached a critical point.

Correspondent Ray Preston of CBS affiliate KMOV-TV in St. Louis reports Fosset is 2400 miles west of Australia, drifting at 60 miles an hour above the Indian Ocean.

A weather system of calm winds threatens to stall the flight. One branch of wind heads off to the north, and another branch heads south toward Antarctica.

As Fossett's ground crew tries to find a solution to this problem, Dr. Suresh Kotogal says there is another concern: lack of rest.

"I would say, adapt to the local environment. If it is daytime try to stay alert."

Fossett is actually one-third of the way into his quest, and he has already set one record during the current trip: becoming the first to cross the South Atlantic in a balloon.

He already holds the record for the longest manned balloon flight: 10,360 miles from the United States to India set in 1997 during a six-day flight. His control center said he would pass that mark and set a new longest-flight record if he reaches Perth, Australia, later this week.

The 54-year-old financial markets millionaire has made four tries for the elusive around-the-world mark. The current expedition has been relatively trouble-free compared to the others, which took place in the Northern Hemisphere.

Several other teams were planning to try globe-circling flights from the Northern Hemisphere later this year or early in 1999.

To claim the record, Fossett would have to land back in South America at (or east of) the point from which he departed. The trip could take as long as 18 days.

Crossing the Andes, should he get that far, would not be a problem, his team said, because the craft would be considerably lighter by then with Fossett having used up most of his oxygen and propane.