Dutch Balloonists Set Transatlantic Record

Three Dutch balloonists set a record for an Atlantic crossing today but just escaped disaster after sharply losing altitude over an area packed with busy factories, flight officials said.

Capt. Henk Brink, 42, and his crew of two, his wife, Evelien, 30, and Maj. Willem Hageman, a 39-year-old F-16 squadron commander in the Royal Dutch Air Force, set out on the voyage from St. John’s, Newfoundland, shortly before midnight Saturday.

They touched down in a wheat field reclaimed from the sea at 2:08 a.m. EDT today after a 51-hour, 14-minute flight.

Operations leader Leo Tekstra, speaking from the expedition control center at Schipol Airport, said the balloonists were forced to ditch sacks of lead ballast hurriedly over the industrial town of Velsen, near Amsterdam, after encountering a sudden down draft while crossing the coastline.

Two bags smashed through the roofs of a steel plant and frozen fish factory. Although one landed in a cloakroom just around starting time, police said, no one was hurt. Damage could run into thousands of dollars, they said.

“They were losing height fast and had to drop ballast quickly because the burners could not compensate--it was the only way to save the balloon and themselves,” Tekstra said.

After the ballast was dumped, the 15-story-high Dutch Viking gained height and skirted Schipol as the crew then sought a site for touchdown. The tiny gondola turned over before landing with a jolt in a cornfield near Almere.

As spectators cheered, the trio landed the balloon to end their 2,363-mile crossing and become the first Europeans to accomplish the voyage.

Henk Brink was slightly injured in the landing and was taken to a hospital. He said later that he suffered only bruises.

The flight broke the 53-hour record for a transatlantic crossing set two years ago by retired U.S. Air Force Col. Joe Kittinger and marked the first time Europeans made the crossing. Evelien Brink became the first woman to register an Atlantic balloon crossing.