India Denied Landing Of Record Flight From Pakistan

Sometimes, even the grandest intentions fall victim to political unrest... and such appeared to be the case last week for Jared Isaacman, 25, who set out March 29 on a privately-funded, round-the-world trip in his Cessna Citation Mustang.

As ANN reported, one of the goals of Isaacman's flight is to raise donations for The Make-A-Wish Foundation of New Jersey.. while also beating the current record for circumnavigating the globe in a light aircraft.

Things looked on track for both goals last Friday, as Isaacman and his flight team took off from Morristown, NJ. The first third of the trip was uneventful, supporters of the RTW attempt tell ANN, until it came to flying the Mustang into India.

Despite establishing all the necessary landing permits well in advance of the flight, Isaacman was notified soon after his departure from Pakistan his landing in India had been denied. This turn of events was a discouraging blow to the team... which at that point was on track to beat the existing record by over 10 hours.

However, neither Isaacman nor his team were deterred... and they got a little help from The National Aeronautic Association and the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI), which granted the team's request for a 2nd Around the World attempt. Isaacman and his flight team departed Doha, Qatar on Wednesday at 04:00 Zulu.

"It is a shame to be put into such a position, but we are not demoralized," Isaacman said. "We are highly motivated and we will not allow ourselves to forget why we are making this journey.  We are determined to be home by the end of the week having flown around the world TWICE and beaten the record in the process."

The record Isaacman hopes to beat was set by M. Naviede in 1991, who completed his circumnavigation attempt in 82 hours. Isaacman hopes to finish his flight in less than 80 hours, and will donate $5,000 to the Make-A-Wish Foundation of New Jersey for every hour that he finishes under the existing record’s time.

Isaacman is the founder and CEO of United Bank Card, Inc. (UBC), based out of Hampton, NJ. He is joined on this flight by co-pilots Douglas Demko, 26, and Shaun Leach, 27, who also helped Isaacman plan and execute the record-breaking attempt.

FMI: www.speedaroundtheworld.com, www.wishnj.org