London, Sept 29: Adventurer David Hempleman-Adams succeeded in his third attempt to cross the Atlantic by balloon, reaching Ireland today after enduring nearly four days of cold and sleep deprivation in a 1.5 meters by 2.1 meters wicker basket, his ground team said. The British-born balloonist, who's also climbed the highest mountains on all seven continents and was the first to fly over the North Pole in a balloon, set out from new Brunswick, Canada on Friday and was floating above Ireland, still unsure where he will land, the team announced.
Hempleman-Adams' control center in Bath, western England, said the flight was going well but that the ground crew had lost contact with the balloon early today as Hempleman-Adams flew at a height of 1,500 meters over southern Ireland. "We think it's purely the weather he's travelling through at the moment," said Nicky Webster, the spokeswoman at the control center. "It's very cold and icy and snowing where he is."
Webster said Hempleman-Adams, 46, planned to continue flying for several hours until he reached northern England. The control center will assess conditions to see if he can land then or will have to continue over the North Sea toward Norway or Sweden. Hempleman-Adams had a scare part way across the Atlantic. Bureau Report