Japanese Balloonists Ditch In Pacific Ocean

On Wednesday, ANN told you about two daring Japanese balloonists, who were attempting to be the first to cross the Pacific Ocean since British entrepreneur Richard Branson made the trip in 1991.

Unfortunately, things did not go as planned for the crew. The balloon ditched in the Pacific late Tuesday after traveling about 1615km. Initial reports indicate they crew spent about 8 hours in the sea before being rescued by a cargo ship.

The Amanogawa 2 took off at 20:52:45 UTC on January 26th from Tochigi City, 100 km north of Tokyo. The balloon made the emergency landing on the Pacific Ocean at 0930 UTC on 27th.

Reports indicate the crew performed a relatively soft landing on the water's surface, resulting in no injuries to either pilot. While the Japanese Coast Guard began their search and rescue operations a short while after, it was several hours before a commercial vessel arrived around 1700 UTC on 27th.

Team leader Michio Kanda, 54, and his partner, Naoki Ishikawa, 26, appeared to survive the incident without any physical problems.

Will the daring duo attempt this crossing again? Who knows, but if they share the same drive and ambition that Richard Branson, Steve Fossett and others seem to thrive on, we may likely see them back in the air very soon.

FMI:  www.exem.co.jp/pacific/indexe.htm