A manned hydrogen-filled balloon, the “Atlantic Explorer”, made aviation history when it touched down in Bastendorf at 5.58am on Sunday. This marks the first successful transatlantic crossing by a manned hydrogen balloon. The crew, pilots Bert Padelt and Peter Cuneo from the US and Alicia Hempleman-Adams from the UK, were greeted by members of the Luxembourg ballooning community, supported by colleagues from Germany and France, after their journey of 5,252 kilometres and 70 hours and 11 minutes in the air.
Claude Weber, President of the Ballooning Commission of the World Air Sports Federation (FAI) and a Luxembourg national, expressed his pride at the achievement. “Luxembourg is honoured to be the closing chapter in this extraordinary journey”, he said.
The balloon launched at 6.08am on Tuesday, 4 June, from Presque Isle, Maine, in the United States. Its flight path took it over the Canadian provinces of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland before heading out across the Atlantic, where the crew spent roughly 36 hours. Operating at an average altitude of 14,000 feet (around 4.2 kilometres), the three pilots faced sub-zero temperatures and ice forming on the balloon. By adjusting their altitude, they were able to find favourable wind currents, at times reaching speeds of around 100 kilometres per hour.
The Atlantic Explorer reached Europe on Thursday evening, 6 June, the 82nd anniversary of D-Day, making landfall near Cherbourg, France. From there, the balloon continued east, finally touching down in Bastendorf in Luxembourg in the early hours of Friday, 7 June.
The Atlantic Explorer crew has set three new world records during their pioneering flight:
- The first transatlantic flight in a balloon that was only powered by hydrogen
- The longest transatlantic flight in a gas-filled balloon
- The longest transatlantic flight in a gas balloon with a British woman on board
Alicia Hempleman-Adams made history as only the second woman ever to cross the Atlantic in a gas balloon.
© Kim Vesely
© Peter Cuneo
© Claude Sauber
© Alain Neuens
© Christophe Houver
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