Japan Balloonist Giving Up Pacific Crossing

Japanese balloonist Fumio Niwa is giving up his attempt to cross the Pacific Ocean alone because of uncooperative winds, and he plans to bring his craft down on the sea, officials said Friday.

Project spokesman Ren Kato said an airplane would determine Niwa’s location early today, and that Niwa then planned to bring his giant orange-and-blue balloon down to wait for a ship to pick him up.

Niwa lifted off early Wednesday from his hometown of Yokohama with the goal of becoming the first person to travel 5,000 miles across the ocean alone in a balloon.

But the flight was frustrated from the start by winds that blew to the north rather than to California, where Niwa had hoped to land on Sunday.

On Friday, his craft floated 4.4 miles above the Pacific about 1,450 miles southeast of Tokyo, Kato said.

Kato said waves in the area were estimated at 20 feet in height, and that Niwa might not be able to bring the craft down until they subsided. Although the six-foot plastic gondola carrying Niwa can float, high waves would batter it and possibly hide it from rescuers, Kato said.

Japanese marine officials said no boats were in the area and that a coast guard ship would not arrive until Sunday night.

If the high waves did subside and Niwa brought the balloon down, he could be left bobbing in the ocean for more than a day.

“He should be able to survive for an extended period, but the gondola will rock a great deal,” Kato said. “He’s likely to become very seasick.”

Niwa, an experienced balloonist, had hoped to travel to San Diego in about four days with the help of high-speed, high-altitude winds that generally blow west to east.

But after the launch, the winds shifted north toward Alaska. Niwa stayed at a low altitude initially in an attempt to travel south and then catch the southernmost edge of the jet stream, which might have landed him farther south in North America.

Niwa, 38, quit his job with a computer firm three months ago to prepare for the flight. He estimated the flight would cost about $540,000, a sum he hoped to recoup through a book and lectures.