MUMBAI, Nov 26: Daredevil 67-year-old Indian tycoon Vijaypat Singhania claimed a new world altitude record on Saturday by flying a hot air balloon to the boundary of space, climbing nearly 21,000 metres (70,000 feet).
The amateur aviator lifted off at dawn from a racecourse in Mumbai serenaded by a band.
Mr Singhania, who used one of the largest nylon balloons ever built, said he wanted ‘to do the country proud’ and added he was ‘very proud of making the flight at this stage of my life’, when many people are drawing their pensions.
The hot-air balloon enthusiast had dubbed his flight in which he flew housed in a pressurized capsule through sub-zero temperatures ‘MI 70K — Mission Impossible 70,000’.
Mr Singhania, whose record must still be officially ratified, was aiming to beat the previous high altitude record of 19,811 metres set by Swedish aviator Per Lindstrand in 1988 over the US state of Texas.
Some 17 aviators have previously tried to eclipse Lindstrand’s record.
The technical team at the Mumbai racecourse monitoring Mr Singhania’s five-hour flight said his balloon touched 21,167 metres.
The Indian aviator opted to stop short of his 21,000-metre target when his red, yellow and blue chequered balloon hit a cold air pocket.
“I saw a layer of ice forming outside the capsule, lowering visibility. Some of the burners were going on and off at the level above 64,000 feet (19,000 metres), so I decided not to take risks,” he said after his flight.
The technical team told him to descend as he had set the new record.—AFP
