THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, January 18, 1997 TAG: 9701180527
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: CHICAGO LENGTH: 28 lines
Millionaire adventurer Steve Fossett finally got permission Friday to fly over Libya but his crew said the delay could still jeopardize his round-the-world balloon flight.
The 52-year-old Chicago securities trader had been forced to decrease altitude to avoid Libya during the negotiations. As he crossed Niger on Friday, his crew said the delay may have hurt his chances of becoming the first balloonist to circle the globe nonstop.
Fossett had hoped to ride powerful jet stream winds across the Libyan desert into Egypt and from there across Asia. Friday, he took a detour over Niger, Chad and the Sudan.
``We're waiting for his reply to see if he feels comfortable to go over Libyan air space,'' said Bo Kemper, a member of Fossett's Chicago ground crew, late Friday.
The flight has at least set one world record: Fossett broke his own distance ballooning record, 5,435 miles flown in 1995. His ground team said he passed that mark Friday morning over the Sahara Desert.
Fossett's silver-colored Solo Spirit balloon lifted off from Busch Stadium in St. Louis on Monday night.