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Live From...
Steve Fossett Breaks Nonstop Solo Flight Record
Aired March 03, 2005 - 14:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: His landing gear is down, and his ETA is about 15 minutes as we've been listening to mission control, live pictures now from Salina, Kansas. It was three days ago that Steve Fossett went airborne, circling the world in this plane built by Burt Rutan. this renaissance man has been breaking records all over the place. This is going to be another one.
Let's listen to mission control just for a second. As you can imagine, the coms are pretty busy between mission control and Steve Fosset as now we've got a tight visual -- actually, that's the helicopter that's coming in just prior to Steve Fossett. You can imagine ...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice): Globalflyer, go to tower.
PHILLIPS: There you go.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice): They've got a visual on Globalflyer.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice): Visual.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice): Affirmative.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice): Roger, maintain. Contact 109.3. Congratulations. So long.
PHILLIPS: There it is.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice): Virgin Globalflyer. Thank you.
PHILLIPS: Taking it off automatic pilot. He's getting congratulations. He's coming in for a landing. Daniel Sieberg by our side. He's been watching the trek. Here we go. This is the moment.
DANIEL SIEBERG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Maybe not do this fly-by, which he considered doing past the airport, to take it off auto pilot and bring it in. Part of the concern perhaps could be that they're having to divert flights. The airport is basically closed just for Steve Fossett to bring in the Globalflyer, so they're trying to get him down as carefully of course as possible. But as soon as possible just so they don't have these aircraft up in the air waiting around.
PHILLIPS: As we watch him come in for a landing, if we decide to stay on this live picture, because I'm told it could maybe still be about 12 minutes or so till he actually touches down. I'm being told we're going to stay with it. So a couple questions. Let's remind folks about Steve Fossett. I mean, this is a man I'd sure like to hang out.
SIEBERG: Yeah. He's probably got a lot of stories.
PHILLIPS: Exactly.
SIEBERG: Yeah. He's done a number of different things that are considered to be pretty major adventure. He has circumnavigated the earth in a hot-air balloon. It took him several tries before he succeed. He managed to sail around the world, he has apparently managed to swim the English Channel, he's done the Iditarod. He really is a renaissance adventure man. He is 60 years old, we should point out.
He's been in this very cramped space in the cockpit about seven feet. He hasn't really been able to eat a whole lot. He's been having protein or breakfast shakes, taking a few-minute catnaps here and there, relying on his auto pilot along the way and his instrumentation and constant communication with his mission control as well.
PHILLIPS: All right, Daniel, hold tight. We want to go to Bob Franken. He's down on the tarmac getting ready for the aircraft to come in. Bob, you were saying, too, Daniel's mentioning he hasn't been able to eat a lot. He's sort of surviving on catnaps and protein shakes. I can just imagine that headache that Steve Fossett has had for the past 24 hours, has a lot to do with probably the anxiety of the fuel issue yesterday and also just the excitement that he's finally going to do it. He's coming in for a landing.
BOB FRANKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that plus the fact that he's pretty much been in one position for three days. That can cause a little bit of a physical reaction. By the way, there are about 45,000 people who live in Salina Kansas, and a whole bunch of them are here. Last time we talked, nobody was lining the tarmac, but they opened the gates and a lot of people came out. Because, of course, we've been having a lot of fun with this, but this is historical.
We've always had a fascination in this country since the advent of travel through records like Charles Lindbergh, being the one, of course, that is the most historical, but now we have this one, which is a solo flight around the world, a solo flight without refueling, the first time that will have been done. He's about 15 miles out now.
We have been told that there was going to be a fly-over. Of course, that raised some questions about the fuel situation. But they -- the flyover, last we had been told, has been scrubbed. He's going to be coming in from that direction there, we are told. Wind is not much of a factor, and he should be on the ground in the not too distant future and will set another record, still another record in a very exciting life -- Kyra?
PHILLIPS: We're going to stay with it, check in with business real quickly as we continue to monitor Steve Fossett here, live pictures as he gets ready to land here in Salina, Kansas, after three days of circling the globe nonstop in that aircraft built by Burt Rutan. We'll talk about it more. There's the hello that's leading him in.
Meanwhile, sports fans know that the NHL canceled the entire pro hockey season leaving many fans out in the cold. Now a Wall Street firm wants to invest in hockey's future. Kathleen Hays joins us live from the New York Stock exchange with that report. Kathleen, we're going to talk to you while we monitor Steve Fossett.
KATHLEEN HAYS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. We'll see if this plan can get the NHL to take off again, Kyra. A buyout group reportedly has a plan has a plan to save the National Hockey League, get rid of the owners. According to two Canadian newspapers, Bain Capital met with the owners this week and offered more than $3 billion to buy all 30 teams. Two weeks ago, the NHL put its season on ice due to a labor dispute.
The league said it lost $500 million for the past two seasons and has been pushing for major financial changes. But analysts say it's unlikely a deal will be reached as all 30 owners would have to agree to sale and they'd have to come up with a way to value all franchises individually. So a lot of complications, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Sticking with that sports/business theme, it looks like the super bowl helps many retailers?
HAYS: Well, you know, the super bowl was a little later this year. That helped retailers ring up extra sales in February. Wal- Mart, in fact is one of them. Shoppers stocked up on party supplies, beer, pretzels ahead of the game. Investors like the sound of that. Wal-Mart shares up 2 percent.
Overall, stocks, little changed, sharply higher oil prices keeping the buying in check today. Though the Dow industrials are up 26 points. The NASDAQ just a little lower. Oil prices hovering near $55 a barrel again, back near the record high set last October. And that's going to be a problem for those people in the air, Kyra. Back to you.
PHILLIPS: All right. Kathleen Hays, thanks so much. Checking a little business and also a little Steve Fossett here. Once again, live pictures of the man who's now taking his Globalflyer around the world nonstop in this aircraft. He's getting ready to land. The landing gear is down. He's minutes away from touching down there on the tarmac in Salina, Kansas. We'll bring it to you live after a quick break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, after losing about 2,600 pounds of fuel, it looks like Steve Fossett, burning about 102 pounds of fuel per hour, will land successfully in Salina, Kansas. He took off about three days ago. The billionaire entrepreneur renaissance man has been breaking records from hot-air balloons to aircraft, is getting ready to land, landing gear is down, good coms with mission control.
He's excited, tired, has a headache, I'm told, and can't wait to get out of that 7 foot cockpit of a pretty incredible aircraft that's now helped him make history and break a world record. Steve Fossett right now, live pictures, airborne as he's getting ready to touch down.
Daniel Sieberg by my side here in Atlanta, our tech guru/aircraft fanatic, in addition to Bob Franken on the tarmac in Kansas. Daniel, let's start with you. Boy, he had a lot to think about a lot of anxiety, and now it looks like it's finally going to come to a successful end.
SIEBERG: And he's probably running on adrenaline at this point. We mentioned running low on fuel. Steve Fossett's likely rather low on energy at this point, but probably getting a boost coming in for the landing and finally bringing this -- about a 65-plus-hour trip -- to a close.
You saw just a second ago the animation of his trip around the world. It was about last night he was over Hawaii when he really had to make the decision whether to continue on to the U.S. mainland or call it quits near Hawaii because of this lost fuel. About 2,600 pounds which happened very early on in the flight. It's a rather unique looking aircraft, looks like a trimaran or two aircraft together.
It's really mainly fuel, about 18,000 pounds when they took off worth of fuel. And that's necessary, of course, to make this trip around the world. He is definitely suffering from fatigue, from probably not eating a whole lot. This rather cramped living space that he's been in. He's had to take these very minimal little naps in between. And autopilot is there for him in the process. But now he's got to think about the landing, a totally different situation than flying. This is a totally situation from flying in the air at 40,000 feet.
PHILLIPS: His best friend, tailwinds. He was very thankful for the strong tailwinds.
SIEBERG: Absolutely. The strong jet stream was unexpected and that's what made the decision in terms of continuing on to the mainland. They got these strong tailwinds that helped them carry along. They had a little more fuel than they needed just in case some of the jet stream wasn't as strong as they needed. But this was the make or break decision that helped them carry on. And he's very close now. He must be within, I'd say, less than ten miles of the airport by now.
PHILLIPS: You're talking about the aircraft. Let's mention, we talked to him not long ago, Burt Rutan, the man who designed this aircraft. I mean, if you think about Rutan Brothers, they're basically the Orville Wright of 2000 ...
SIEBERG: Crazed geniuses, you'd have to call them.
PHILLIPS: Right.
SIEBERG: Those guys are amazing. They designed the Voyager aircraft which you might remember in '86 did circumnavigate the earth. His brother Dick was one of the pilots, Jeanna Yeager was the other. That was the first time that an aircraft actually circumnavigated the earth. In that case, it was two pilots, in this case, one.
The aircraft - we talked to Burt Rutan a little while ago - the aircraft a little different, obviously more modern than the one that was built 20 years ago. In this case, it's a composite material, carbon fiber, very durable type of material. Also very flexible. It's so heavy when it takes off, the wings actually tend to dip a little bit. When it gets to a certain altitude, then the wings straighten out. So there's amazing technologies involved with this aircraft that could spin off for air travel for any one of us down the line. There's some applications there as well.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: I want to bring in Bob Franken now. Bob, there were a lot of people who may look at this and say, you know, here you go, spending a lot of time -- is that the visual right there from the ground, Bob? Is that what we're seeing? The aircraft coming in?
BOB FRANKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, if you are, it's coming in behind me. I don't see the aircraft right now.
HARRIS: Okay.
FRANKEN: But it won't be very long. The one thing that I want ...
HARRIS: Yeah, that's it, Bob.
FRANKEN: Okay.
HARRIS: We can see it, if you can't. It's right behind you. We're seeing it come in right now.
FRANKEN: Well, that's, of course, going to excite everybody once we can all see it. The one thing, Daniel, I wanted to supplement this with is that sometimes he had to leave the jet stream. He had to -- he had to hit certain markers around the world that were required for the record. He would have to leave that tailwind and then come back to it. So this is really quite an accomplishment of aviation expertise. He's two miles out right now. One of the questions that was asked this morning, Daniel, you talked about the fatigue. One of the questions is is he really in shape to land an airplane? And of course, the answer is, what choice does he have?
So in a moment, we're going to see him come in. Nobody has any questions about it. This is quite an achievement. Anybody who's a pilot is going to know that this was a meticulously planned, the jet stream was a bonus, but this time of year you can expect sometimes winds like that. So this is going to be something that's going to go in the record books not just as a victory of aviation and technology, but also somebody who really knows how to fly the old-fashioned way, the seat of the pants way, using the winds aloft.
HARRIS: Bob, I've got to follow up on that point. Because you said something earlier that bears repeating. Because there are a lot of people watching this who say, you know what? This is just another example of the idle pursuits of rich people, millionaires and their toys. But you made the point a couple moments ago that this is part of history. And it goes all the way back to our earliest fascinations and desire, want and need to fly.
FRANKEN: Well, you know, if you've ever been to the Air & Space Museum, and I know you have, Tony, it really attracts so many people. It's the most visited museum in Washington because of the fascination with aviation. I think all of us have a little bit in us where we're not supposed to be able to do that, that's the fascination. And yet there we are, we of course have gone outside now in the space program and all that type of thing.
But this is just another example of the kind of adventurous spirit that has really been a part of aviation since its very beginning. We talked a while ago about Charles Lindbergh. And you can't help but bring that up as you're talking about this. And this is just somebody who likes to live large. He's been able to do it successfully. He's been able to indulge himself for the rest of us. I think everybody is vicariously participating in this, happily not really participating in this, but he is soon going to land. It's going to be a hero's welcome, and this is a man who has decided he wants to set the example of somebody who pushes things to the limits.
HARRIS: And we all made model airplanes, at least the boys in the room, right?
PHILLIPS: Hey, I made plenty of model airplanes, pal.
HARRIS: I didn't want to assume but this doesn't look much more advanced than the model airplanes we used to make as kids. And the little paper airplanes.
SIEBERG: It's deceptively advanced. Those -- you see the parachutes out the back. Those will help him to glide once he gets down on the runway.
PHILLIPS: Just glide it in.
SIEBERG: Once he gets down. It's helping the drag.
HARRIS: Go ahead, Bob.
FRANKEN: Well, I was just going to say that part of what is so advanced is the material, the composite material that makes a plane like this possible. This is the kind of thing that is really highly advanced. And that is one of the great applications in a number of venues as we go along. The use of this kind of durable, durable material that is so light.
PHILLIPS: Daniel, you were -- we were talking about aviation. Tony, you brought up the point about hey, you know, rich guys and their toys, right? But, Daniel, maybe you can speak to what this could mean, does mean for aviation and the advancement of aviation.
SIEBERG: Well, it's really going to hopefully have impact on the efficiency of an aircraft, of the possibly the longevity of the flight, how the fuel is burned. I mean, these are really -- this is unchartered territory, in a sense. A lot of this, perhaps, is going to have to be examined later and see how they can apply it down the line. But ultimately it really could affect air travel for every one of us.
Of course, there are people who say that Steve Fossett has the money to do something like this. And he is kind of living out his dream. But we can take from it a number of other things and the historic implications are obviously huge. And people do get somewhat inspired by watching someone pursue a huge challenge like this that no one's ever done before solo.
PHILLIPS: Looks, it's an expensive hobby, and you've got to have the money to push it farther. Bob, are you able to get a visual on it yet?
FRANKEN: Well, no, we aren't seeing it on camera yet, but I did want to show you -- you can see the crowd, you can see the area where it's going to come in. If you can see the wind sock there ...
PHILLIPS: Here it comes. Yeah, here it comes, Bob. It's coming down. It's just about to hit the runway.
FRANKEN: Okay. And we have a couple of buildings between us. The people down there are going to have quite a thrill.
PHILLIPS: Here it is. Steve Fossett. Yep, after three days. Looks like he's just about to touch down. I don't know if we can hear mission control or not.
You could hear one voice say "he's on the ground!" you can even hear folks cheering in the background. Now he's picked it up a little bit. Here we go.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice): How long until you open the runways up?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice): 30 minutes.
FRANKEN: Here it is coming in. What a sight. What a sight.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice): Circling.
PHILLIPS: We want to well km our international viewers now from across the world. If you're just tuning in, Steve Fossett, billionaire, aviation, entrepreneur. He did it. He made a safe landing. Three days circling the globe, one aircraft, one fuel up, even losing 2,600 pounds of fuel. He still made it. He had a little bit of a scare yesterday, but he's made history no doubt.
SIEBERG: It's a very light aircraft at this point. When he comes in, he's lost all of that fuel, he's spent all of it. The net weight is 3,000 pounds. It started out about 22,0000 pounds. He's dropped all of that weight to come in for the landing.
PHILLIPS: Keep many mind that cockpit, only seven feet -- is it long? How wide is it?
SIEBERG: About seven feet long. Very narrow. You'll probably see when he lifts up the cockpit window there, you can get a better understanding of how cramped it's been for him. I'm amazed he can even move at this point. It's just so cramped in there.
FRANKEN: Bob Franken saying he had a desperate headache, I guess, within the past 24 hours, not only being in that position, but only being able to have protein shakes, not being able to move at all. I mean, just physically, I mean, we talked about the historic part of this from an aviation standpoint. But physically, it's pretty incredible what he's endured.
SIEBERG: Imagine staying awake for three days, and not just staying awake, but being 45,000 feet above the earth, you know, piloting this plane in addition to the auto pilot.
HARRIS: And you said there was a real scare here. And you talked to the designer of this aircraft. And there was a real scare because of the fuel situation, not sure if it was lost fuel, the tanks weren't topped off, if there was a problem with the gauge, they had to make a decision near Hawaii as to whether or not to continue with the flight.
SIEBERG: Right. They really are saying this was a legitimate concern. Some people in the media primarily, I suppose, have wondered whether this was sort of a publicity stunt. But they are adamant that there was a legitimate concern with the amount of fuel, they had to make the decision last night when they were over Hawaii, whether to continue on because obviously, once you leave Hawaii to the mainland, there's really nowhere to land that plane. So that was a really critical call at a critical point.
HARRIS: So talk us through this. If correct, and we're taking the designer of this aircraft at its word that there was a serious problem and a decision that need to be made because of the fuel situation, what then - what was the guiding angel that helped this aircraft made make it all the way to Salina, Kansas? Was it the jet stream? The tailwind?
SIEBERG: The wind. The wind was really at his back. It helped him the whole way coming in. As Bob Franken said, he had to go up and down within this jet stream, not always within it. But it is much stronger than they anticipated. At one point it was up to 130 knots, which is really going to give him a boost beyond using any of this additional fuel. So that was a life-saver, but definitely helped his flight and make this decision to come in all the way to Salina.
HARRIS: I'm curious of that point. Even if this was a need for an emergency landing, clearly there wasn't, he's on the ground safely, but if there was a need for an emergency landing, he was being followed by a support team. Right?
SIEBERG: Absolutely. There was mission control on the ground, a chase plane throughout the flight. He was in constant communication with all of those people. This was a decision that was not made lightly. They had been pondering this for a number of hours and deciding on a number of different factors, the jet stream, the amount of fuel, whether the gauges were working. Steve Fossett's condition and whether he could actually continue on with the flight. Once they made those choices, Steve said "let's go for it." Those were his four words saying let's go on.
PHILLIPS: You know what his next invention will be? I'm putting money on this. Maybe I should talk to Steve Fossett about this. Just like the strike fighters during air operation, refueling commercial aircraft refueling. I'm telling you it's the wave of the future. He wouldn't have had to worry about anything, right?
SIEBERG: He's only a billionaire.
PHILLIPS: There you go. He could invent it.
SIEBERG: ... get a little more rich, sure.
HARRIS: Can you imagine? I mean, look at that thing. I don't know what I expected.
PHILLIPS: It's pretty incredible.
HARRIS: I expected something bigger than that.
SIEBERG: It looks almost like a trimaran sailboat, with the three separate -- which is where the fuel is stored, by the way. We mentioned one tank of gas, but he actually has 13 different tanks of gas. And part of the main part of his flight is shifting the balance of the plane. As this fuel starts to burn, certain tanks get empty, he has to adjust where the fuel is being sent, going into the engine and basically deciding on where the fuel is going. So that is a critical part of his role in the aircraft when he's up there.
PHILLIPS: And we keep seeing shots of Sir Richard Branson. Let's talk about him and his involvement, of course. There he is. We've got another live shot. Let's remind our viewers of the connection and the relationship.
SIEBERG: Right. Sir Richard Branson, the head of Virgin Atlantic, he himself is a very avid pilot. In fact, I believe he was in one of the chase planes at one point following along. He's also promoting the Virgin Atlantic space travel down the line in a couple of years for people. So he really has a passion for this type of thing. Virgin Atlantic, a big sponsor, helped to finance, it helps to have a few million dollars extra coming in and helping you out.
PHILLIPS: Let's not forget the X-prize, the Rutan brothers, the same guy guys that built this aircraft. Built SpaceshipOne that won the X prize. We're talking all different levels of aviation.
SIEBERG: It really is a combination of a lot of smart thinking and money. I mean, you just cannot have the money and make this happen. You've got to have the technology and the smarts to make it work. HARRIS: Am I remembering this incorrectly here? Was there a time when these two men were competing in the balloon against one another to sail around the world or something in the balloon regatta it seemed for a while?
SIEBERG: I believe at one point they were both trying to do it. I know Steve Fossett had a number of attempts where he didn't make it.
HARRIS: Right.
SIEBERG: And it was about the eighth try, I believe, when he finally did get around the world.
HARRIS: All right.
PHILLIPS: So Bob Franken, are you still with us?
FRANKEN: I am. I am. I'm watching the scene as you are here.
PHILLIPS: Okay. Give us a feel. You said there's about 45,000 people there in Salina, Kansas, and I'm curious if practically the whole area turned out for this big event. This is huge. Yeah, the high school band is there.
FRANKEN: The high school band is there. In case you keep track of such things, it is the Salina South Cougar Band. I'm sure you knew that, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: I have their CDs, actually, Bob.
FRANKEN: You do? You have their CDs?
PHILLIPS: And you know what? They're going to go world famous now that we're talking about them on CNN.
FRANKEN: That's right. The one thing I was talking to Branson earlier about how this all came by. And first of all, he's very candid about the fact that he's been able to build an image and a company with the image of living large, living adventure. So when Fossett came to him with this idea, it wasn't, according to Branson, a solicitation for money. Fossett is quite the wealthy man, but Branson said, "I want to do this."
And of course, what we've been seeing almost all day long is a steady picture of Richard Branson who has been risible with all this type of thing and he's reaping the reward of it now. It is something he's been able to make a public relations event. They would be the first ones to admit to that. A public relations strategy out of adventures like this that capture our imagination. As you can see by the crowd here, as you can see from the coverage we're providing, that strategy has worked and provided for all of us quite the adventure.
PHILLIPS: Forgive me for asking this, because you probably mentioned it before. Why Salina, Kansas? Why is this the place where he decided to land and take off from?
FRANKEN: I'm really glad you asked that.
PHILLIPS: Do you know?
FRANKEN: I do.
PHILLIPS: Okay. Do tell.
FRANKEN: Well, the large reason is that they have a very, very long runway here. And, of course, it's easy to say as we did earlier, that as flat as Kansas is, the entire state is a runway. But ...
PHILLIPS: 12,000 feet, right, Bob?
FRANKEN: Yes?
PHILLIPS: 12,000 feet long, that runway?
FRANKEN: Yes, yes, 12,000 feet long. Kansas State University, where we are, has a really tremendous aviation program. Virgin Atlantic says they've gotten such tremendous cooperation. As you can see, it's really generated a lot of civic pride. The people of Salina, Kansas, are seeing history being made.
PHILLIPS: Wow! We're getting a tight shot now of Steve Fossett in his aircraft as it's drawing closer into the crowd. What happens -- at what point -- where will he pull up to, Bob, and then will he get out? Will he greet the crowd? Will doctors come over and give him a quick physical? I mean, what's the game plan once he gets out of that seven-foot cockpit?
FRANKEN: I would think that the doctors would want to look at him. The answer to your question about where he's going to pull up is right in back of us. I would be willing to bet that it is somewhere near the Virgin Atlantic signs. In any case, he will get out of the plane. There is some possibility that he'll come and talk to us, or, rather talk to the crowd.
Although, you know, one is going to have to see what kind of shape he's in, how well he can walk, for instance, after three days in that position. Branson pointed out, however, the Fossett, iron man that he is, the last time that he did an endeavor like this when he did his balloon flight, he ran in a marathon just a day or so later.
So this is somebody who we would hope would be in good shape. There you can see Richard Branson over there who has got the world's largest checkered flag, I think, signaling the end of this thing. This is a man who knows how to get on television.
PHILLIPS: And that's about ten times bigger than the NASCAR checkered flag, I'll tell you that. You don't even see that at the end of a race.
HARRIS: I am claustrophobic looking at that little compartment.
PHILLIPS: And look at him give everyone a wave. He's waving to everybody as he's coming in. HARRIS: Look at that little bubble.
PHILLIPS: Let's talk about the cockpit, Daniel, just above the head. Is that one of the fuel tanks?
SIEBERG: I don't believe that's where the fuel is stored. The fuel is primarily in the wings and divided up into a number of compartments within the wings and then distributed into the engine.
PHILLIPS: So the red part is the engine on top of the cockpit, fuel tanks on each side. Bob Franken, it looks like he's coming up for a stop.
FRANKEN: Well, yes. He's now gone to a two-checkered-flag alert here. So yes, you can see him. He's coming right past us. What a remarkable plane. What a strange looking plane.
PHILLIPS: Once again -- sorry about that, Bob. I know we're having a hard time hearing because of the aircraft. But if you're just tuning in, we want to welcome our domestic viewers as well as our international viewers.
What you're seeing is history in the making here. Billionaire Steve Fossett coming in for a landing. He took off three days ago in this aircraft built by Burt Rutan, you know, the famous Rutan brothers that built a number of experimental aircraft. Took off three days. He circled the globe nonstop, this aircraft in a seven foot long cockpit. Steve Fossett quite the renaissance man, not the first time that he's broken a world record.
Now pulling up to the hanger as thousands of people there on the ground where Bob Franken is in Salina, Kansas gather to welcome him.
Has the band struck up, Bob?
FRANKEN: No, the band has not struck up and if they did you couldn't hear them because of the plane - the jet. By the way, a question that did come up this morning was whether he would get frequent flyer miles for this, over 23,000.
(LAUGHTER)
HARRIS: Nice. Nice.
FRANKEN: Yes. The answer is no.
SIEBERG: Like he needs them.
FRANKEN: But Branson said A, A, he's going to get free Virgin Air tickets for life. And Branson said, anybody else who wants to do this can also get one.
So, if anybody there wants to have a free Virgin Air ticket for life, you know how to do it.
HARRIS: There you go. PHILLIPS: And we mentioned Steve Fossett, billionaire, obviously, has had to come up with the funds to take on these projects.
Daniel, give us a little background on Steve Fossett and his billions and how he reached the point to, well -- made it to this point right now.
HARRIS: As we see the last critical moment in this.
PHILLIPS: Yes, exactly.
SIEBERG: As he emerges, he was an options trader. He did make his money in the financial markets and went on to do a number of different amazing feats, sail around the world, take a hot air balloon around the world, the Ironman, the Iditarod. Practically, you name it, he's done it.
I am going to amazed if he's not just a little shaky coming out of here.
HARRIS: Yes.
SIEBERG: Because he's really been suffering from fatigue. And in his prone position for that long, I would be amazed if he came out and was able to just run around.
HARRIS: Right. Right.
SIEBERG: But, hey, but he is an adventuring Ironman-type guy.
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIPS: And he's in great shape.
SIEBERG: He is in good shape.
PHILLIPS: So, just to kind of give folks a visual, he's been sitting with his legs stretched out with just the small opening there where he's able to see out the glass. Is that right?
SIEBERG: That's right.
PHILLIPS: So he's in an upright, not lying back, like you see...
SIEBERG: Even if he could sleep, I mean, he's really not a position to get any real relaxation.
PHILLIPS: So he had to sleep upright when he took his catnaps?
SIEBERG: Pretty much, yes. And he's had to set a couple of alarm clocks to wake himself up.
FRANKEN: Can you hear me right now?
HARRIS: Yes, we can. PHILLIPS: Yes. Go ahead, Bob.
FRANKEN: OK, we've just been given the official time, which is 67 hours, two minutes and 38 seconds.
So, there you have it. The record was set in that amount of time.
SIEBERG: And that's within the window that they had anticipated. They had guessed between 66 and 80 hours, again, depending on the jet stream and the route that he had to take.
PHILLIPS: So, let's think of the last time an individual attempted to do such a feat, who was it?
SIEBERG: In this case, a similar type of feat as this, it was 1986, again, a similar plane designed by Burt Rutan and Dick Rutan, flown by Dick Rutan and Geena Yeager.
This was the Voyager aircraft that did look somewhat similar. This is obviously an updated version of all of that. And, of course, in this case, it's Steve Fossett solo, having to fly the plane himself and work on all of the controls himself.
PHILLIPS: And we were talking just about the future of aviation and the fact that he did this solo flight nonstop, even with a little bit of a fuel scare yesterday, thinking he might have to end the trip. Three days, almost 68 hours, what does this mean for aviation? What could this lead to?
SIEBERG: It really is hard to say at this point. I mean, it certainly is going to lead to, first of all, inspiration.
The type of aircraft is a composite design of carbon fiber. It could lead to a number of different innovations in aircraft, whether it could be fuel efficiency, the type of strength and durability of the aircraft. Again, those wings you see there are very flexible. They can actually bend at certain points, because that fuel is so heavy.
We are talking about 18,000 pounds of fuel when it took off. The plane itself was 22,000 pounds. That is an enormous amount of strain to put on those wings, but they were able to sustain that weight. In fact, the takeoff was the most critical part, they say, of this entire flight.
PHILLIPS: Do you think the landing was maybe the easiest, pull the chutes, slide in?
SIEBERG: You know, I don't know. Easiest is hard to say, given his condition.
PHILLIPS: Yes.
SIEBERG: It really may have been something they were concerned about, especially because of this fuel loss. But, you know, he has flown before. This is not the first time he's come in for a landing. There are probably a lot of things that are somewhat standard in terms of him coming in for a landing, but this situation, obviously, very unique.
PHILLIPS: Now, safety wise, what if something would of gone wrong? What if he had engine failure, if he did run out of fuel? Do we know what his options would have been? I mean, obviously, I don't -- it doesn't look like you can eject from this aircraft.
SIEBERG: Not to my knowledge. But there was probably a situation where he would have had to land at the nearest airport. He could have landed at a number of different airports, not just in Salina, so he could have had a number of different choices on where to take the plane down if there was a serious concern.
And that's the decision they had to make last night, whether to stop the mission or the trek over Hawaii or to continue on to the mainland, where at least he could land, if he didn't make it all the way to Kansas, on the U.S. mainland.
HARRIS: You know what, Daniel? Let me pick up on this -- this notion of practical applications for this. What do you do with this? This is one guy. This is a solo craft. And it's a small thing. It's not going to fly the D.C.-to-Boston hub. So, what do you do with this? Are we talking about the materials possibly that are in this craft that were used to make this craft having real applications?
SIEBERG: It's primarily the materials, I would say. And, obviously, this is one 177th the flight capacity of a 737.
HARRIS: Yes. Yes.
SIEBERG: So, the practical side of the number of people that it can carry needs to be worked on.
(CROSSTALK)
HARRIS: So we're talking about graphite epoxy. We're talking about...
SIEBERG: Right, sort of a carbon fiber...
HARRIS: Carbon fibers.
SIEBERG: ... composite material that's being used. That's right.
And the Rutan brothers are known for so many different innovations in aviation and design that this really could be one that is later on down the line transferred to other types of aircraft.
I mean, it's -- it's hard to say at this point. You can see right there it says experimental on the plane.
(LAUGHTER) PHILLIPS: In big letters.
SIEBERG: In big letters.
HARRIS: Yes.
SIEBERG: So, this is something that they're going to have to look at. Scaled Composites is the name of the Rutan brothers' company.
(CROSSTALK)
HARRIS: All right, here's...
(CROSSTALK)
HARRIS: And they were part of the SpaceShipOne that crossed...
PHILLIPS: Won the X Prize.
HARRIS: ... into the atmosphere. That's right.
PHILLIPS: Do you think -- I heard this aircraft -- I was reading it may go to the Smithsonian. Is that true?
SIEBERG: That's what I understand.
PHILLIPS: OK.
SIEBERG: I believe it was Bob Franken who had mentioned that.
PHILLIPS: Bob, are you with us?
FRANKEN: I am. I am. I'm watching now as he's preparing to get out of the plane, as you can see. There are a lot of high-fives and people hugging one another in congratulations.
But, yes, what Branson said this morning is that he had been contacted by the Smithsonian and that it very well could end up there, the Smithsonian, the Air and Space Museum, which now has an entire new section in the Washington area. And one would think that it would go there, as a matter of fact, along with the other hallmarks in the adventure of aviation.
There has always been a mystique about aviation, for the obvious reason that there's an inherent...
(CROSSTALK)
FRANKEN: Wait a minute. I'm going to stop talking now because here he comes.
HARRIS: Here he is.
PHILLIPS: Let's see how he does.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
PHILLIPS: Oh, my gosh.
HARRIS: He was jammed up in there, wasn't he?
(CROSSTALK)
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
SIEBERG: He has trained for this flight for several months, getting different levels of sleep going into this and food. They actually had to delay it for nearly a period of a month before the conditions were just right to take off.
PHILLIPS: You're watching our breaking new coverage. We want to welcome our international viewers, as well as our domestic viewers. That is one happy man, Steve Fossett high-fiving Sir Richard Branson.
(CROSSTALK)
SIEBERG: Walking around and high-fiving.
PHILLIPS: He made it, three days, nonstop.
(CROSSTALK)
SIEBERG: I think he's -- he's ready for a bed pretty soon.
PHILLIPS: See if we can listen in.
(JOINED IN PROGRESS)
RICHARD BRANSON, FOUNDER, VIRGIN ATLANTIC: And one round of applause for Steve Fossett.
(APPLAUSE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stay down, sir. Please, can you move away.
BRANSON: The first person in the world to go around it solo.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, you're blocking the whole...
(CROSSTALK)
STEVE FOSSETT, PILOT: Well, that was something I have wanted to do for a long time. It's a major ambition. And I had the good fortune of getting the right people to -- associated with it.
First was Scaled Composites to build and test it by John Kerkow. And then Richard Branson brought Virgin in to make this a much better project. And then the team here, not only the Airport Authority, but Kansas State University.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
(CROSSTALK)
FOSSETT: Seven of the -- I'm sorry. Eleven (UNINTELLIGIBLE) were integrally involved in this project ever since we arrived in Salina January 6. So, I had the fortune of a fabulous team. And I'm a really lucky guy. And I got to achieve my ambitions.
Thank you.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
(CROSSTALK)
BRANSON: Care to stretch your legs?
(LAUGHTER)
FOSSETT: I thought I would fall off the ladder there.
BRANSON: Can you walk?
FOSSETT: Yes.
(CROSSTALK)
FOSSETT: Oh, boy.
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIPS: A number of catnaps, a few protein shakes.
(LAUGHTER)
PHILLIPS: And now we hear from Steve Fossett himself, some major ambition.
HARRIS: Yes.
SIEBERG: Well, this is -- they've been calling this the last great aviation milestone. So, you know, maybe that's overstating it, but it's a pretty amazing accomplishment no matter how you look at it. And Steve Fossett seems none the worse for wear for a guy who has been sitting in a very cramped 7-foot cockpit.
HARRIS: Well, he made it look easy.
SIEBERG: He's smiling away and seems pretty -- pretty upbeat about...
(CROSSTALK)
HARRIS: You're flying for three days. You get out of the cockpit. You have a little news conference there. What is this? He made it look like a piece of cake.
SIEBERG: It's amazing to think of his level of focus though, after three -- almost three solid days of focusing on nothing but continuing and completing this journey, to now being in Salina, Kansas, on this tarmac with Richard Branson.
HARRIS: Popping a bottle of champagne.
(CROSSTALK)
SIEBERG: ... pop the champagne.
PHILLIPS: I bet I know of one more man that is going to be popping champagne, if he's not doing it right now. And that is Burt Rutan, the man who built this aircraft. He is on the line with us now.
Burt, you must be one happy man.
BURT RUTAN, SCALED COMPOSITES: You bet.
There is a whole group of us here from Scaled Composites, the people that designed and built this airplane. We're here celebrating right along with you and watching CNN.
PHILLIPS: Got to love it.
Well, it -- talk -- Burt, we've been wanting to talk to you about just those last few minutes as the aircraft was coming in. What was going through your mind? What were you thinking about as you saw the aircraft that you built with Steve Fossett coming in after three days nonstop, breaking the record?
RUTAN: Well, what I was thinking about was joy when we saw the landing gear come down fine and the chutes out and so on.
And I was also thinking about how in the heck is he flying this, this well after trying to stay awake for all that time.
(CROSSTALK)
RUTAN: You know, he's -- he's -- certainly has an enormous amount of stamina. I'm watching him running around, just like as if he has just got into it.
(LAUGHTER)
RUTAN: And all of us here at Scales want to pass on our congratulations to Steve. And he's certainly -- he's certainly pulled this off with a tremendous amount of stamina.
PHILLIPS: All right, I'm going to...
RUTAN: And we're all very proud of him.
PHILLIPS: Burt, I have got to ask you this question. And I know Tony has questions, and probably Bob Franken and I know Daniel.
(LAUGHTER)
PHILLIPS: But how about the next invention has got to be another aircraft that can refuel the aircraft that you -- that you built airborne. What do you think?
RUTAN: Well, the very newest airlines now can fly halfway around the world nonrefueled. So I don't see a reason to refuel a commercial airplane.
PHILLIPS: Oh, OK.
RUTAN: For airline travel, because where would you go? I mean, you can already go almost halfway around the world. So I -- I don't -- I think, if you tried to refuel an airliner, you'd pay a lot more for a ticket price.
PHILLIPS: Point well made.
HARRIS: Burt, I've got to ask you, we've been speculating up here about the practical applications for this craft and the materials that you used. Instead of speculating about it, why don't you tell us? What do you see as the future of this aircraft and the materials that you used to make it?
RUTAN: Well, Scaled Composites has composites in our name for a very good reason. We build composite airplanes a lot differently than you see at Lockheed and Cessna.
We build them without mixing it with metals. We build them all composites. And that airplane that you're looking at there has a one- piece wing spar. If that was built at Boeing, it would be built out of dozens or hundreds of pieces, riveted together.
But, here, we build it one piece with no fasteners. And the structure in that airplane is absolutely way above what you'll find in any airliner today. So, we're very proud of doing that kind of work. And that's one of the reasons we're in business.
(CROSSTALK)
HARRIS: Go ahead, Daniel.
SIEBERG: Burt, it's Daniel Sieberg.
I just wanted to ask you about Steve Fossett's performance and the performance of the plane. We had heard about this loss of fuel. How would you rate both Steve Fossett's performance up there, as well as the plane?
RUTAN: Well, I will tell you, if you want to rate that landing, it's -- it's -- it's at least an 8 1/2. And for a guy that set up right in that and we're told took only very short naps, I think he did a phenomenal job at landing that airplane. And he's just -- no question about it. Steve is a different animal than most of us. PHILLIPS: Burt, a question about your design. And I'm just -- you know, of course, I'm thinking about comfort. Why not make the cockpit bigger, so it -- you know, it allows him to have a little more room? Tell me what you were thinking, you know.
RUTAN: Why not make the cockpit bigger, so he can walk around or go back to a bed?
(LAUGHTER)
PHILLIPS: Exactly.
(CROSSTALK)
RUTAN: Keep in mind, the bigger you make it, the shorter the airplane's range is.
PHILLIPS: Got you.
RUTAN: And this flight looked relatively easy, even with a loss of fuel, primarily because we had just excellent tailwinds.
But let me point out, if we had not had any tailwinds at all, he would not have made it around at all.
(CROSSTALK)
RUTAN: So, if we had made the cockpit a little bit bigger and then you didn't get as good of winds, he might have landed in California. And that's not a good thing.
PHILLIPS: No. And that was not the goal, of course.
Hey, while we have this live picture, we see Branson next to him. Who is the other person by his side, the female?
RUTAN: The female beside his side is -- is -- it looks like Steve Fossett's wife.
PHILLIPS: OK, that's what we were wondering. I wasn't sure. I didn't want to, of course, say anything unless I knew. But we kind of guessed that. Now, of course, we're watching the high school band kick into full gear.
SIEBERG: Burt, has Steve told you what he's going to do now that he's down on the ground? Has he mentioned what his...
(CROSSTALK)
RUTAN: You know, there are some, we think, phenomenally good uses for the Global Flyer in a bunch of different applications.
And Steve has never committed to us what he might do after the world flight with the airplane. And I can understand that, because, you know, the big focus is making this a successful flight. I think what we ought to do is let him have a chance to take a nap. And then I'm going to ask him that myself.
SIEBERG: That is what I was thinking, sort of near term, what he might be doing, sort of finding a bed and maybe a real meal or...
PHILLIPS: Burt Rutan, we got to take a quick break. We sure want to thank you for joining us live, the designer of this aircraft. I know you're going to have a chance to talk with Steve Fossett not long from now. We can't wait to get the debrief.
Thanks again for your time.
Once again, you've been watching live coverage of Steve Fossett as he made his way around the world, the Global Flyer pilot, three days nonstop, even losing some fuel.
HARRIS: That's right.
PHILLIPS: He made history.
HARRIS: Made history. three days, broke a record. There he is, Steve Fossett. This is another look at the landing, about an 8.5, according to Dick.
Burt says it was about an 8.5 landing.
We're going to take a break and come back with more of LIVE FROM right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: It is a legal thriller in Santa Maria, California, as testimony continues in the Michael Jackson child molestation case today. Video now of Jackson arriving this morning to sit in as the prosecution continues to presents its case.
CNN's Miguel Marquez on what's been happening in the camera-free courtroom -- Miguel.
MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. It's a big day for prosecution. The sister of Michael Jackson's accuser is now on the stand, the prosecutor going step by step with her.
What she has testified so far to is that, in 2000, during her family's first visit to Neverland Ranch, it was her brother, the accuser, who suggested that he and his brother stay in Michael Jackson's bedroom. They did that. She and her parents stayed in the master bedroom, said she never went into Jackson's bedroom, never saw it.
Then she also testified that, when they were in Miami at a hotel there, that she saw her brother and Michael Jackson go into a room several times for 15 minutes to 30 minutes throughout the day when they were there. She also testified that they presented pictures of her brother and Kobe Bryant, and also of Chris Tucker, while he had cancer. She also testified that her father struck her mother more times than she could count, struck her and her brothers as well. And that testimony is continuing -- Tony.
Miguel Marquez live from Santa Maria, California, for us -- Miguel, thank you.
PHILLIPS: And this just in to CNN. It's coming straight from the jail cell at Chicago's Metropolitan Correctional Center.
White supremacist Matt Hale has issued his first statement this morning since, as you know, the story we've been covering with regard to the death of -- Judge Joan Humphrey Lefkow, you remember, who has presided over a number of trademark groups concerning white supremacist groups. Those critics out there have mentioned Matt Hale, his white supremacist group, that possibly he behind the murder of the judge's husband and mother.
He's now issuing this statement -- and I quote -- "There is simply no way that any supporter of mine would commit such a heinous crime. I totally condemn it and I want the perpetrator caught and prosecuted. I only hope that they sincerely wish to apprehend this animal, instead of railroading the innocent. Only an idiot would think that I would do this. My sentencing date is April 6."
Once again, this quote coming straight from Chicago's Metropolitan Correctional Center, where white supremacist Matt Hale issued this statement following the death of two family members of Judge Joan Humphrey Lefkow. You remember she presided over that trademark dispute involving the name of Hale's organization, and he has been -- the finger has been pointed at him as possibly being behind those murders.
We are going to take a quick break. We will be right back.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAROL LIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): One trader's greed led to the downfall of Britain's oldest merchant bank. This week in history on March 2, 1995, Nick Leeson was arrested and charged with fraud in connection with the Barings Bank collapse. And in 1998, Bill Gates defended his company during a U.S. Senate hearing. He denied that Microsoft was using its windows operating system to monopolize the Internet. And that is this week in history.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(FINANCIAL UPDATE)
HARRIS: And that wraps up this Thursday edition of LIVE FROM.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired March 3, 2005 - 14:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: His landing gear is down, and his ETA is about 15 minutes as we've been listening to mission control, live pictures now from Salina, Kansas. It was three days ago that Steve Fossett went airborne, circling the world in this plane built by Burt Rutan. this renaissance man has been breaking records all over the place. This is going to be another one.
Let's listen to mission control just for a second. As you can imagine, the coms are pretty busy between mission control and Steve Fosset as now we've got a tight visual -- actually, that's the helicopter that's coming in just prior to Steve Fossett. You can imagine ...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice): Globalflyer, go to tower.
PHILLIPS: There you go.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice): They've got a visual on Globalflyer.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice): Visual.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice): Affirmative.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice): Roger, maintain. Contact 109.3. Congratulations. So long.
PHILLIPS: There it is.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice): Virgin Globalflyer. Thank you.
PHILLIPS: Taking it off automatic pilot. He's getting congratulations. He's coming in for a landing. Daniel Sieberg by our side. He's been watching the trek. Here we go. This is the moment.
DANIEL SIEBERG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Maybe not do this fly-by, which he considered doing past the airport, to take it off auto pilot and bring it in. Part of the concern perhaps could be that they're having to divert flights. The airport is basically closed just for Steve Fossett to bring in the Globalflyer, so they're trying to get him down as carefully of course as possible. But as soon as possible just so they don't have these aircraft up in the air waiting around.
PHILLIPS: As we watch him come in for a landing, if we decide to stay on this live picture, because I'm told it could maybe still be about 12 minutes or so till he actually touches down. I'm being told we're going to stay with it. So a couple questions. Let's remind folks about Steve Fossett. I mean, this is a man I'd sure like to hang out.
SIEBERG: Yeah. He's probably got a lot of stories.
PHILLIPS: Exactly.
SIEBERG: Yeah. He's done a number of different things that are considered to be pretty major adventure. He has circumnavigated the earth in a hot-air balloon. It took him several tries before he succeed. He managed to sail around the world, he has apparently managed to swim the English Channel, he's done the Iditarod. He really is a renaissance adventure man. He is 60 years old, we should point out.
He's been in this very cramped space in the cockpit about seven feet. He hasn't really been able to eat a whole lot. He's been having protein or breakfast shakes, taking a few-minute catnaps here and there, relying on his auto pilot along the way and his instrumentation and constant communication with his mission control as well.
PHILLIPS: All right, Daniel, hold tight. We want to go to Bob Franken. He's down on the tarmac getting ready for the aircraft to come in. Bob, you were saying, too, Daniel's mentioning he hasn't been able to eat a lot. He's sort of surviving on catnaps and protein shakes. I can just imagine that headache that Steve Fossett has had for the past 24 hours, has a lot to do with probably the anxiety of the fuel issue yesterday and also just the excitement that he's finally going to do it. He's coming in for a landing.
BOB FRANKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that plus the fact that he's pretty much been in one position for three days. That can cause a little bit of a physical reaction. By the way, there are about 45,000 people who live in Salina Kansas, and a whole bunch of them are here. Last time we talked, nobody was lining the tarmac, but they opened the gates and a lot of people came out. Because, of course, we've been having a lot of fun with this, but this is historical.
We've always had a fascination in this country since the advent of travel through records like Charles Lindbergh, being the one, of course, that is the most historical, but now we have this one, which is a solo flight around the world, a solo flight without refueling, the first time that will have been done. He's about 15 miles out now.
We have been told that there was going to be a fly-over. Of course, that raised some questions about the fuel situation. But they -- the flyover, last we had been told, has been scrubbed. He's going to be coming in from that direction there, we are told. Wind is not much of a factor, and he should be on the ground in the not too distant future and will set another record, still another record in a very exciting life -- Kyra?
PHILLIPS: We're going to stay with it, check in with business real quickly as we continue to monitor Steve Fossett here, live pictures as he gets ready to land here in Salina, Kansas, after three days of circling the globe nonstop in that aircraft built by Burt Rutan. We'll talk about it more. There's the hello that's leading him in.
Meanwhile, sports fans know that the NHL canceled the entire pro hockey season leaving many fans out in the cold. Now a Wall Street firm wants to invest in hockey's future. Kathleen Hays joins us live from the New York Stock exchange with that report. Kathleen, we're going to talk to you while we monitor Steve Fossett.
KATHLEEN HAYS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. We'll see if this plan can get the NHL to take off again, Kyra. A buyout group reportedly has a plan has a plan to save the National Hockey League, get rid of the owners. According to two Canadian newspapers, Bain Capital met with the owners this week and offered more than $3 billion to buy all 30 teams. Two weeks ago, the NHL put its season on ice due to a labor dispute.
The league said it lost $500 million for the past two seasons and has been pushing for major financial changes. But analysts say it's unlikely a deal will be reached as all 30 owners would have to agree to sale and they'd have to come up with a way to value all franchises individually. So a lot of complications, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Sticking with that sports/business theme, it looks like the super bowl helps many retailers?
HAYS: Well, you know, the super bowl was a little later this year. That helped retailers ring up extra sales in February. Wal- Mart, in fact is one of them. Shoppers stocked up on party supplies, beer, pretzels ahead of the game. Investors like the sound of that. Wal-Mart shares up 2 percent.
Overall, stocks, little changed, sharply higher oil prices keeping the buying in check today. Though the Dow industrials are up 26 points. The NASDAQ just a little lower. Oil prices hovering near $55 a barrel again, back near the record high set last October. And that's going to be a problem for those people in the air, Kyra. Back to you.
PHILLIPS: All right. Kathleen Hays, thanks so much. Checking a little business and also a little Steve Fossett here. Once again, live pictures of the man who's now taking his Globalflyer around the world nonstop in this aircraft. He's getting ready to land. The landing gear is down. He's minutes away from touching down there on the tarmac in Salina, Kansas. We'll bring it to you live after a quick break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, after losing about 2,600 pounds of fuel, it looks like Steve Fossett, burning about 102 pounds of fuel per hour, will land successfully in Salina, Kansas. He took off about three days ago. The billionaire entrepreneur renaissance man has been breaking records from hot-air balloons to aircraft, is getting ready to land, landing gear is down, good coms with mission control.
He's excited, tired, has a headache, I'm told, and can't wait to get out of that 7 foot cockpit of a pretty incredible aircraft that's now helped him make history and break a world record. Steve Fossett right now, live pictures, airborne as he's getting ready to touch down.
Daniel Sieberg by my side here in Atlanta, our tech guru/aircraft fanatic, in addition to Bob Franken on the tarmac in Kansas. Daniel, let's start with you. Boy, he had a lot to think about a lot of anxiety, and now it looks like it's finally going to come to a successful end.
SIEBERG: And he's probably running on adrenaline at this point. We mentioned running low on fuel. Steve Fossett's likely rather low on energy at this point, but probably getting a boost coming in for the landing and finally bringing this -- about a 65-plus-hour trip -- to a close.
You saw just a second ago the animation of his trip around the world. It was about last night he was over Hawaii when he really had to make the decision whether to continue on to the U.S. mainland or call it quits near Hawaii because of this lost fuel. About 2,600 pounds which happened very early on in the flight. It's a rather unique looking aircraft, looks like a trimaran or two aircraft together.
It's really mainly fuel, about 18,000 pounds when they took off worth of fuel. And that's necessary, of course, to make this trip around the world. He is definitely suffering from fatigue, from probably not eating a whole lot. This rather cramped living space that he's been in. He's had to take these very minimal little naps in between. And autopilot is there for him in the process. But now he's got to think about the landing, a totally different situation than flying. This is a totally situation from flying in the air at 40,000 feet.
PHILLIPS: His best friend, tailwinds. He was very thankful for the strong tailwinds.
SIEBERG: Absolutely. The strong jet stream was unexpected and that's what made the decision in terms of continuing on to the mainland. They got these strong tailwinds that helped them carry along. They had a little more fuel than they needed just in case some of the jet stream wasn't as strong as they needed. But this was the make or break decision that helped them carry on. And he's very close now. He must be within, I'd say, less than ten miles of the airport by now.
PHILLIPS: You're talking about the aircraft. Let's mention, we talked to him not long ago, Burt Rutan, the man who designed this aircraft. I mean, if you think about Rutan Brothers, they're basically the Orville Wright of 2000 ...
SIEBERG: Crazed geniuses, you'd have to call them.
PHILLIPS: Right.
SIEBERG: Those guys are amazing. They designed the Voyager aircraft which you might remember in '86 did circumnavigate the earth. His brother Dick was one of the pilots, Jeanna Yeager was the other. That was the first time that an aircraft actually circumnavigated the earth. In that case, it was two pilots, in this case, one.
The aircraft - we talked to Burt Rutan a little while ago - the aircraft a little different, obviously more modern than the one that was built 20 years ago. In this case, it's a composite material, carbon fiber, very durable type of material. Also very flexible. It's so heavy when it takes off, the wings actually tend to dip a little bit. When it gets to a certain altitude, then the wings straighten out. So there's amazing technologies involved with this aircraft that could spin off for air travel for any one of us down the line. There's some applications there as well.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: I want to bring in Bob Franken now. Bob, there were a lot of people who may look at this and say, you know, here you go, spending a lot of time -- is that the visual right there from the ground, Bob? Is that what we're seeing? The aircraft coming in?
BOB FRANKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, if you are, it's coming in behind me. I don't see the aircraft right now.
HARRIS: Okay.
FRANKEN: But it won't be very long. The one thing that I want ...
HARRIS: Yeah, that's it, Bob.
FRANKEN: Okay.
HARRIS: We can see it, if you can't. It's right behind you. We're seeing it come in right now.
FRANKEN: Well, that's, of course, going to excite everybody once we can all see it. The one thing, Daniel, I wanted to supplement this with is that sometimes he had to leave the jet stream. He had to -- he had to hit certain markers around the world that were required for the record. He would have to leave that tailwind and then come back to it. So this is really quite an accomplishment of aviation expertise. He's two miles out right now. One of the questions that was asked this morning, Daniel, you talked about the fatigue. One of the questions is is he really in shape to land an airplane? And of course, the answer is, what choice does he have?
So in a moment, we're going to see him come in. Nobody has any questions about it. This is quite an achievement. Anybody who's a pilot is going to know that this was a meticulously planned, the jet stream was a bonus, but this time of year you can expect sometimes winds like that. So this is going to be something that's going to go in the record books not just as a victory of aviation and technology, but also somebody who really knows how to fly the old-fashioned way, the seat of the pants way, using the winds aloft.
HARRIS: Bob, I've got to follow up on that point. Because you said something earlier that bears repeating. Because there are a lot of people watching this who say, you know what? This is just another example of the idle pursuits of rich people, millionaires and their toys. But you made the point a couple moments ago that this is part of history. And it goes all the way back to our earliest fascinations and desire, want and need to fly.
FRANKEN: Well, you know, if you've ever been to the Air & Space Museum, and I know you have, Tony, it really attracts so many people. It's the most visited museum in Washington because of the fascination with aviation. I think all of us have a little bit in us where we're not supposed to be able to do that, that's the fascination. And yet there we are, we of course have gone outside now in the space program and all that type of thing.
But this is just another example of the kind of adventurous spirit that has really been a part of aviation since its very beginning. We talked a while ago about Charles Lindbergh. And you can't help but bring that up as you're talking about this. And this is just somebody who likes to live large. He's been able to do it successfully. He's been able to indulge himself for the rest of us. I think everybody is vicariously participating in this, happily not really participating in this, but he is soon going to land. It's going to be a hero's welcome, and this is a man who has decided he wants to set the example of somebody who pushes things to the limits.
HARRIS: And we all made model airplanes, at least the boys in the room, right?
PHILLIPS: Hey, I made plenty of model airplanes, pal.
HARRIS: I didn't want to assume but this doesn't look much more advanced than the model airplanes we used to make as kids. And the little paper airplanes.
SIEBERG: It's deceptively advanced. Those -- you see the parachutes out the back. Those will help him to glide once he gets down on the runway.
PHILLIPS: Just glide it in.
SIEBERG: Once he gets down. It's helping the drag.
HARRIS: Go ahead, Bob.
FRANKEN: Well, I was just going to say that part of what is so advanced is the material, the composite material that makes a plane like this possible. This is the kind of thing that is really highly advanced. And that is one of the great applications in a number of venues as we go along. The use of this kind of durable, durable material that is so light.
PHILLIPS: Daniel, you were -- we were talking about aviation. Tony, you brought up the point about hey, you know, rich guys and their toys, right? But, Daniel, maybe you can speak to what this could mean, does mean for aviation and the advancement of aviation.
SIEBERG: Well, it's really going to hopefully have impact on the efficiency of an aircraft, of the possibly the longevity of the flight, how the fuel is burned. I mean, these are really -- this is unchartered territory, in a sense. A lot of this, perhaps, is going to have to be examined later and see how they can apply it down the line. But ultimately it really could affect air travel for every one of us.
Of course, there are people who say that Steve Fossett has the money to do something like this. And he is kind of living out his dream. But we can take from it a number of other things and the historic implications are obviously huge. And people do get somewhat inspired by watching someone pursue a huge challenge like this that no one's ever done before solo.
PHILLIPS: Looks, it's an expensive hobby, and you've got to have the money to push it farther. Bob, are you able to get a visual on it yet?
FRANKEN: Well, no, we aren't seeing it on camera yet, but I did want to show you -- you can see the crowd, you can see the area where it's going to come in. If you can see the wind sock there ...
PHILLIPS: Here it comes. Yeah, here it comes, Bob. It's coming down. It's just about to hit the runway.
FRANKEN: Okay. And we have a couple of buildings between us. The people down there are going to have quite a thrill.
PHILLIPS: Here it is. Steve Fossett. Yep, after three days. Looks like he's just about to touch down. I don't know if we can hear mission control or not.
You could hear one voice say "he's on the ground!" you can even hear folks cheering in the background. Now he's picked it up a little bit. Here we go.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice): How long until you open the runways up?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice): 30 minutes.
FRANKEN: Here it is coming in. What a sight. What a sight.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice): Circling.
PHILLIPS: We want to well km our international viewers now from across the world. If you're just tuning in, Steve Fossett, billionaire, aviation, entrepreneur. He did it. He made a safe landing. Three days circling the globe, one aircraft, one fuel up, even losing 2,600 pounds of fuel. He still made it. He had a little bit of a scare yesterday, but he's made history no doubt.
SIEBERG: It's a very light aircraft at this point. When he comes in, he's lost all of that fuel, he's spent all of it. The net weight is 3,000 pounds. It started out about 22,0000 pounds. He's dropped all of that weight to come in for the landing.
PHILLIPS: Keep many mind that cockpit, only seven feet -- is it long? How wide is it?
SIEBERG: About seven feet long. Very narrow. You'll probably see when he lifts up the cockpit window there, you can get a better understanding of how cramped it's been for him. I'm amazed he can even move at this point. It's just so cramped in there.
FRANKEN: Bob Franken saying he had a desperate headache, I guess, within the past 24 hours, not only being in that position, but only being able to have protein shakes, not being able to move at all. I mean, just physically, I mean, we talked about the historic part of this from an aviation standpoint. But physically, it's pretty incredible what he's endured.
SIEBERG: Imagine staying awake for three days, and not just staying awake, but being 45,000 feet above the earth, you know, piloting this plane in addition to the auto pilot.
HARRIS: And you said there was a real scare here. And you talked to the designer of this aircraft. And there was a real scare because of the fuel situation, not sure if it was lost fuel, the tanks weren't topped off, if there was a problem with the gauge, they had to make a decision near Hawaii as to whether or not to continue with the flight.
SIEBERG: Right. They really are saying this was a legitimate concern. Some people in the media primarily, I suppose, have wondered whether this was sort of a publicity stunt. But they are adamant that there was a legitimate concern with the amount of fuel, they had to make the decision last night when they were over Hawaii, whether to continue on because obviously, once you leave Hawaii to the mainland, there's really nowhere to land that plane. So that was a really critical call at a critical point.
HARRIS: So talk us through this. If correct, and we're taking the designer of this aircraft at its word that there was a serious problem and a decision that need to be made because of the fuel situation, what then - what was the guiding angel that helped this aircraft made make it all the way to Salina, Kansas? Was it the jet stream? The tailwind?
SIEBERG: The wind. The wind was really at his back. It helped him the whole way coming in. As Bob Franken said, he had to go up and down within this jet stream, not always within it. But it is much stronger than they anticipated. At one point it was up to 130 knots, which is really going to give him a boost beyond using any of this additional fuel. So that was a life-saver, but definitely helped his flight and make this decision to come in all the way to Salina.
HARRIS: I'm curious of that point. Even if this was a need for an emergency landing, clearly there wasn't, he's on the ground safely, but if there was a need for an emergency landing, he was being followed by a support team. Right?
SIEBERG: Absolutely. There was mission control on the ground, a chase plane throughout the flight. He was in constant communication with all of those people. This was a decision that was not made lightly. They had been pondering this for a number of hours and deciding on a number of different factors, the jet stream, the amount of fuel, whether the gauges were working. Steve Fossett's condition and whether he could actually continue on with the flight. Once they made those choices, Steve said "let's go for it." Those were his four words saying let's go on.
PHILLIPS: You know what his next invention will be? I'm putting money on this. Maybe I should talk to Steve Fossett about this. Just like the strike fighters during air operation, refueling commercial aircraft refueling. I'm telling you it's the wave of the future. He wouldn't have had to worry about anything, right?
SIEBERG: He's only a billionaire.
PHILLIPS: There you go. He could invent it.
SIEBERG: ... get a little more rich, sure.
HARRIS: Can you imagine? I mean, look at that thing. I don't know what I expected.
PHILLIPS: It's pretty incredible.
HARRIS: I expected something bigger than that.
SIEBERG: It looks almost like a trimaran sailboat, with the three separate -- which is where the fuel is stored, by the way. We mentioned one tank of gas, but he actually has 13 different tanks of gas. And part of the main part of his flight is shifting the balance of the plane. As this fuel starts to burn, certain tanks get empty, he has to adjust where the fuel is being sent, going into the engine and basically deciding on where the fuel is going. So that is a critical part of his role in the aircraft when he's up there.
PHILLIPS: And we keep seeing shots of Sir Richard Branson. Let's talk about him and his involvement, of course. There he is. We've got another live shot. Let's remind our viewers of the connection and the relationship.
SIEBERG: Right. Sir Richard Branson, the head of Virgin Atlantic, he himself is a very avid pilot. In fact, I believe he was in one of the chase planes at one point following along. He's also promoting the Virgin Atlantic space travel down the line in a couple of years for people. So he really has a passion for this type of thing. Virgin Atlantic, a big sponsor, helped to finance, it helps to have a few million dollars extra coming in and helping you out.
PHILLIPS: Let's not forget the X-prize, the Rutan brothers, the same guy guys that built this aircraft. Built SpaceshipOne that won the X prize. We're talking all different levels of aviation.
SIEBERG: It really is a combination of a lot of smart thinking and money. I mean, you just cannot have the money and make this happen. You've got to have the technology and the smarts to make it work. HARRIS: Am I remembering this incorrectly here? Was there a time when these two men were competing in the balloon against one another to sail around the world or something in the balloon regatta it seemed for a while?
SIEBERG: I believe at one point they were both trying to do it. I know Steve Fossett had a number of attempts where he didn't make it.
HARRIS: Right.
SIEBERG: And it was about the eighth try, I believe, when he finally did get around the world.
HARRIS: All right.
PHILLIPS: So Bob Franken, are you still with us?
FRANKEN: I am. I am. I'm watching the scene as you are here.
PHILLIPS: Okay. Give us a feel. You said there's about 45,000 people there in Salina, Kansas, and I'm curious if practically the whole area turned out for this big event. This is huge. Yeah, the high school band is there.
FRANKEN: The high school band is there. In case you keep track of such things, it is the Salina South Cougar Band. I'm sure you knew that, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: I have their CDs, actually, Bob.
FRANKEN: You do? You have their CDs?
PHILLIPS: And you know what? They're going to go world famous now that we're talking about them on CNN.
FRANKEN: That's right. The one thing I was talking to Branson earlier about how this all came by. And first of all, he's very candid about the fact that he's been able to build an image and a company with the image of living large, living adventure. So when Fossett came to him with this idea, it wasn't, according to Branson, a solicitation for money. Fossett is quite the wealthy man, but Branson said, "I want to do this."
And of course, what we've been seeing almost all day long is a steady picture of Richard Branson who has been risible with all this type of thing and he's reaping the reward of it now. It is something he's been able to make a public relations event. They would be the first ones to admit to that. A public relations strategy out of adventures like this that capture our imagination. As you can see by the crowd here, as you can see from the coverage we're providing, that strategy has worked and provided for all of us quite the adventure.
PHILLIPS: Forgive me for asking this, because you probably mentioned it before. Why Salina, Kansas? Why is this the place where he decided to land and take off from?
FRANKEN: I'm really glad you asked that.
PHILLIPS: Do you know?
FRANKEN: I do.
PHILLIPS: Okay. Do tell.
FRANKEN: Well, the large reason is that they have a very, very long runway here. And, of course, it's easy to say as we did earlier, that as flat as Kansas is, the entire state is a runway. But ...
PHILLIPS: 12,000 feet, right, Bob?
FRANKEN: Yes?
PHILLIPS: 12,000 feet long, that runway?
FRANKEN: Yes, yes, 12,000 feet long. Kansas State University, where we are, has a really tremendous aviation program. Virgin Atlantic says they've gotten such tremendous cooperation. As you can see, it's really generated a lot of civic pride. The people of Salina, Kansas, are seeing history being made.
PHILLIPS: Wow! We're getting a tight shot now of Steve Fossett in his aircraft as it's drawing closer into the crowd. What happens -- at what point -- where will he pull up to, Bob, and then will he get out? Will he greet the crowd? Will doctors come over and give him a quick physical? I mean, what's the game plan once he gets out of that seven-foot cockpit?
FRANKEN: I would think that the doctors would want to look at him. The answer to your question about where he's going to pull up is right in back of us. I would be willing to bet that it is somewhere near the Virgin Atlantic signs. In any case, he will get out of the plane. There is some possibility that he'll come and talk to us, or, rather talk to the crowd.
Although, you know, one is going to have to see what kind of shape he's in, how well he can walk, for instance, after three days in that position. Branson pointed out, however, the Fossett, iron man that he is, the last time that he did an endeavor like this when he did his balloon flight, he ran in a marathon just a day or so later.
So this is somebody who we would hope would be in good shape. There you can see Richard Branson over there who has got the world's largest checkered flag, I think, signaling the end of this thing. This is a man who knows how to get on television.
PHILLIPS: And that's about ten times bigger than the NASCAR checkered flag, I'll tell you that. You don't even see that at the end of a race.
HARRIS: I am claustrophobic looking at that little compartment.
PHILLIPS: And look at him give everyone a wave. He's waving to everybody as he's coming in. HARRIS: Look at that little bubble.
PHILLIPS: Let's talk about the cockpit, Daniel, just above the head. Is that one of the fuel tanks?
SIEBERG: I don't believe that's where the fuel is stored. The fuel is primarily in the wings and divided up into a number of compartments within the wings and then distributed into the engine.
PHILLIPS: So the red part is the engine on top of the cockpit, fuel tanks on each side. Bob Franken, it looks like he's coming up for a stop.
FRANKEN: Well, yes. He's now gone to a two-checkered-flag alert here. So yes, you can see him. He's coming right past us. What a remarkable plane. What a strange looking plane.
PHILLIPS: Once again -- sorry about that, Bob. I know we're having a hard time hearing because of the aircraft. But if you're just tuning in, we want to welcome our domestic viewers as well as our international viewers.
What you're seeing is history in the making here. Billionaire Steve Fossett coming in for a landing. He took off three days ago in this aircraft built by Burt Rutan, you know, the famous Rutan brothers that built a number of experimental aircraft. Took off three days. He circled the globe nonstop, this aircraft in a seven foot long cockpit. Steve Fossett quite the renaissance man, not the first time that he's broken a world record.
Now pulling up to the hanger as thousands of people there on the ground where Bob Franken is in Salina, Kansas gather to welcome him.
Has the band struck up, Bob?
FRANKEN: No, the band has not struck up and if they did you couldn't hear them because of the plane - the jet. By the way, a question that did come up this morning was whether he would get frequent flyer miles for this, over 23,000.
(LAUGHTER)
HARRIS: Nice. Nice.
FRANKEN: Yes. The answer is no.
SIEBERG: Like he needs them.
FRANKEN: But Branson said A, A, he's going to get free Virgin Air tickets for life. And Branson said, anybody else who wants to do this can also get one.
So, if anybody there wants to have a free Virgin Air ticket for life, you know how to do it.
HARRIS: There you go. PHILLIPS: And we mentioned Steve Fossett, billionaire, obviously, has had to come up with the funds to take on these projects.
Daniel, give us a little background on Steve Fossett and his billions and how he reached the point to, well -- made it to this point right now.
HARRIS: As we see the last critical moment in this.
PHILLIPS: Yes, exactly.
SIEBERG: As he emerges, he was an options trader. He did make his money in the financial markets and went on to do a number of different amazing feats, sail around the world, take a hot air balloon around the world, the Ironman, the Iditarod. Practically, you name it, he's done it.
I am going to amazed if he's not just a little shaky coming out of here.
HARRIS: Yes.
SIEBERG: Because he's really been suffering from fatigue. And in his prone position for that long, I would be amazed if he came out and was able to just run around.
HARRIS: Right. Right.
SIEBERG: But, hey, but he is an adventuring Ironman-type guy.
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIPS: And he's in great shape.
SIEBERG: He is in good shape.
PHILLIPS: So, just to kind of give folks a visual, he's been sitting with his legs stretched out with just the small opening there where he's able to see out the glass. Is that right?
SIEBERG: That's right.
PHILLIPS: So he's in an upright, not lying back, like you see...
SIEBERG: Even if he could sleep, I mean, he's really not a position to get any real relaxation.
PHILLIPS: So he had to sleep upright when he took his catnaps?
SIEBERG: Pretty much, yes. And he's had to set a couple of alarm clocks to wake himself up.
FRANKEN: Can you hear me right now?
HARRIS: Yes, we can. PHILLIPS: Yes. Go ahead, Bob.
FRANKEN: OK, we've just been given the official time, which is 67 hours, two minutes and 38 seconds.
So, there you have it. The record was set in that amount of time.
SIEBERG: And that's within the window that they had anticipated. They had guessed between 66 and 80 hours, again, depending on the jet stream and the route that he had to take.
PHILLIPS: So, let's think of the last time an individual attempted to do such a feat, who was it?
SIEBERG: In this case, a similar type of feat as this, it was 1986, again, a similar plane designed by Burt Rutan and Dick Rutan, flown by Dick Rutan and Geena Yeager.
This was the Voyager aircraft that did look somewhat similar. This is obviously an updated version of all of that. And, of course, in this case, it's Steve Fossett solo, having to fly the plane himself and work on all of the controls himself.
PHILLIPS: And we were talking just about the future of aviation and the fact that he did this solo flight nonstop, even with a little bit of a fuel scare yesterday, thinking he might have to end the trip. Three days, almost 68 hours, what does this mean for aviation? What could this lead to?
SIEBERG: It really is hard to say at this point. I mean, it certainly is going to lead to, first of all, inspiration.
The type of aircraft is a composite design of carbon fiber. It could lead to a number of different innovations in aircraft, whether it could be fuel efficiency, the type of strength and durability of the aircraft. Again, those wings you see there are very flexible. They can actually bend at certain points, because that fuel is so heavy.
We are talking about 18,000 pounds of fuel when it took off. The plane itself was 22,000 pounds. That is an enormous amount of strain to put on those wings, but they were able to sustain that weight. In fact, the takeoff was the most critical part, they say, of this entire flight.
PHILLIPS: Do you think the landing was maybe the easiest, pull the chutes, slide in?
SIEBERG: You know, I don't know. Easiest is hard to say, given his condition.
PHILLIPS: Yes.
SIEBERG: It really may have been something they were concerned about, especially because of this fuel loss. But, you know, he has flown before. This is not the first time he's come in for a landing. There are probably a lot of things that are somewhat standard in terms of him coming in for a landing, but this situation, obviously, very unique.
PHILLIPS: Now, safety wise, what if something would of gone wrong? What if he had engine failure, if he did run out of fuel? Do we know what his options would have been? I mean, obviously, I don't -- it doesn't look like you can eject from this aircraft.
SIEBERG: Not to my knowledge. But there was probably a situation where he would have had to land at the nearest airport. He could have landed at a number of different airports, not just in Salina, so he could have had a number of different choices on where to take the plane down if there was a serious concern.
And that's the decision they had to make last night, whether to stop the mission or the trek over Hawaii or to continue on to the mainland, where at least he could land, if he didn't make it all the way to Kansas, on the U.S. mainland.
HARRIS: You know what, Daniel? Let me pick up on this -- this notion of practical applications for this. What do you do with this? This is one guy. This is a solo craft. And it's a small thing. It's not going to fly the D.C.-to-Boston hub. So, what do you do with this? Are we talking about the materials possibly that are in this craft that were used to make this craft having real applications?
SIEBERG: It's primarily the materials, I would say. And, obviously, this is one 177th the flight capacity of a 737.
HARRIS: Yes. Yes.
SIEBERG: So, the practical side of the number of people that it can carry needs to be worked on.
(CROSSTALK)
HARRIS: So we're talking about graphite epoxy. We're talking about...
SIEBERG: Right, sort of a carbon fiber...
HARRIS: Carbon fibers.
SIEBERG: ... composite material that's being used. That's right.
And the Rutan brothers are known for so many different innovations in aviation and design that this really could be one that is later on down the line transferred to other types of aircraft.
I mean, it's -- it's hard to say at this point. You can see right there it says experimental on the plane.
(LAUGHTER) PHILLIPS: In big letters.
SIEBERG: In big letters.
HARRIS: Yes.
SIEBERG: So, this is something that they're going to have to look at. Scaled Composites is the name of the Rutan brothers' company.
(CROSSTALK)
HARRIS: All right, here's...
(CROSSTALK)
HARRIS: And they were part of the SpaceShipOne that crossed...
PHILLIPS: Won the X Prize.
HARRIS: ... into the atmosphere. That's right.
PHILLIPS: Do you think -- I heard this aircraft -- I was reading it may go to the Smithsonian. Is that true?
SIEBERG: That's what I understand.
PHILLIPS: OK.
SIEBERG: I believe it was Bob Franken who had mentioned that.
PHILLIPS: Bob, are you with us?
FRANKEN: I am. I am. I'm watching now as he's preparing to get out of the plane, as you can see. There are a lot of high-fives and people hugging one another in congratulations.
But, yes, what Branson said this morning is that he had been contacted by the Smithsonian and that it very well could end up there, the Smithsonian, the Air and Space Museum, which now has an entire new section in the Washington area. And one would think that it would go there, as a matter of fact, along with the other hallmarks in the adventure of aviation.
There has always been a mystique about aviation, for the obvious reason that there's an inherent...
(CROSSTALK)
FRANKEN: Wait a minute. I'm going to stop talking now because here he comes.
HARRIS: Here he is.
PHILLIPS: Let's see how he does.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
PHILLIPS: Oh, my gosh.
HARRIS: He was jammed up in there, wasn't he?
(CROSSTALK)
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
SIEBERG: He has trained for this flight for several months, getting different levels of sleep going into this and food. They actually had to delay it for nearly a period of a month before the conditions were just right to take off.
PHILLIPS: You're watching our breaking new coverage. We want to welcome our international viewers, as well as our domestic viewers. That is one happy man, Steve Fossett high-fiving Sir Richard Branson.
(CROSSTALK)
SIEBERG: Walking around and high-fiving.
PHILLIPS: He made it, three days, nonstop.
(CROSSTALK)
SIEBERG: I think he's -- he's ready for a bed pretty soon.
PHILLIPS: See if we can listen in.
(JOINED IN PROGRESS)
RICHARD BRANSON, FOUNDER, VIRGIN ATLANTIC: And one round of applause for Steve Fossett.
(APPLAUSE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stay down, sir. Please, can you move away.
BRANSON: The first person in the world to go around it solo.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, you're blocking the whole...
(CROSSTALK)
STEVE FOSSETT, PILOT: Well, that was something I have wanted to do for a long time. It's a major ambition. And I had the good fortune of getting the right people to -- associated with it.
First was Scaled Composites to build and test it by John Kerkow. And then Richard Branson brought Virgin in to make this a much better project. And then the team here, not only the Airport Authority, but Kansas State University.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
(CROSSTALK)
FOSSETT: Seven of the -- I'm sorry. Eleven (UNINTELLIGIBLE) were integrally involved in this project ever since we arrived in Salina January 6. So, I had the fortune of a fabulous team. And I'm a really lucky guy. And I got to achieve my ambitions.
Thank you.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
(CROSSTALK)
BRANSON: Care to stretch your legs?
(LAUGHTER)
FOSSETT: I thought I would fall off the ladder there.
BRANSON: Can you walk?
FOSSETT: Yes.
(CROSSTALK)
FOSSETT: Oh, boy.
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIPS: A number of catnaps, a few protein shakes.
(LAUGHTER)
PHILLIPS: And now we hear from Steve Fossett himself, some major ambition.
HARRIS: Yes.
SIEBERG: Well, this is -- they've been calling this the last great aviation milestone. So, you know, maybe that's overstating it, but it's a pretty amazing accomplishment no matter how you look at it. And Steve Fossett seems none the worse for wear for a guy who has been sitting in a very cramped 7-foot cockpit.
HARRIS: Well, he made it look easy.
SIEBERG: He's smiling away and seems pretty -- pretty upbeat about...
(CROSSTALK)
HARRIS: You're flying for three days. You get out of the cockpit. You have a little news conference there. What is this? He made it look like a piece of cake.
SIEBERG: It's amazing to think of his level of focus though, after three -- almost three solid days of focusing on nothing but continuing and completing this journey, to now being in Salina, Kansas, on this tarmac with Richard Branson.
HARRIS: Popping a bottle of champagne.
(CROSSTALK)
SIEBERG: ... pop the champagne.
PHILLIPS: I bet I know of one more man that is going to be popping champagne, if he's not doing it right now. And that is Burt Rutan, the man who built this aircraft. He is on the line with us now.
Burt, you must be one happy man.
BURT RUTAN, SCALED COMPOSITES: You bet.
There is a whole group of us here from Scaled Composites, the people that designed and built this airplane. We're here celebrating right along with you and watching CNN.
PHILLIPS: Got to love it.
Well, it -- talk -- Burt, we've been wanting to talk to you about just those last few minutes as the aircraft was coming in. What was going through your mind? What were you thinking about as you saw the aircraft that you built with Steve Fossett coming in after three days nonstop, breaking the record?
RUTAN: Well, what I was thinking about was joy when we saw the landing gear come down fine and the chutes out and so on.
And I was also thinking about how in the heck is he flying this, this well after trying to stay awake for all that time.
(CROSSTALK)
RUTAN: You know, he's -- he's -- certainly has an enormous amount of stamina. I'm watching him running around, just like as if he has just got into it.
(LAUGHTER)
RUTAN: And all of us here at Scales want to pass on our congratulations to Steve. And he's certainly -- he's certainly pulled this off with a tremendous amount of stamina.
PHILLIPS: All right, I'm going to...
RUTAN: And we're all very proud of him.
PHILLIPS: Burt, I have got to ask you this question. And I know Tony has questions, and probably Bob Franken and I know Daniel.
(LAUGHTER)
PHILLIPS: But how about the next invention has got to be another aircraft that can refuel the aircraft that you -- that you built airborne. What do you think?
RUTAN: Well, the very newest airlines now can fly halfway around the world nonrefueled. So I don't see a reason to refuel a commercial airplane.
PHILLIPS: Oh, OK.
RUTAN: For airline travel, because where would you go? I mean, you can already go almost halfway around the world. So I -- I don't -- I think, if you tried to refuel an airliner, you'd pay a lot more for a ticket price.
PHILLIPS: Point well made.
HARRIS: Burt, I've got to ask you, we've been speculating up here about the practical applications for this craft and the materials that you used. Instead of speculating about it, why don't you tell us? What do you see as the future of this aircraft and the materials that you used to make it?
RUTAN: Well, Scaled Composites has composites in our name for a very good reason. We build composite airplanes a lot differently than you see at Lockheed and Cessna.
We build them without mixing it with metals. We build them all composites. And that airplane that you're looking at there has a one- piece wing spar. If that was built at Boeing, it would be built out of dozens or hundreds of pieces, riveted together.
But, here, we build it one piece with no fasteners. And the structure in that airplane is absolutely way above what you'll find in any airliner today. So, we're very proud of doing that kind of work. And that's one of the reasons we're in business.
(CROSSTALK)
HARRIS: Go ahead, Daniel.
SIEBERG: Burt, it's Daniel Sieberg.
I just wanted to ask you about Steve Fossett's performance and the performance of the plane. We had heard about this loss of fuel. How would you rate both Steve Fossett's performance up there, as well as the plane?
RUTAN: Well, I will tell you, if you want to rate that landing, it's -- it's -- it's at least an 8 1/2. And for a guy that set up right in that and we're told took only very short naps, I think he did a phenomenal job at landing that airplane. And he's just -- no question about it. Steve is a different animal than most of us. PHILLIPS: Burt, a question about your design. And I'm just -- you know, of course, I'm thinking about comfort. Why not make the cockpit bigger, so it -- you know, it allows him to have a little more room? Tell me what you were thinking, you know.
RUTAN: Why not make the cockpit bigger, so he can walk around or go back to a bed?
(LAUGHTER)
PHILLIPS: Exactly.
(CROSSTALK)
RUTAN: Keep in mind, the bigger you make it, the shorter the airplane's range is.
PHILLIPS: Got you.
RUTAN: And this flight looked relatively easy, even with a loss of fuel, primarily because we had just excellent tailwinds.
But let me point out, if we had not had any tailwinds at all, he would not have made it around at all.
(CROSSTALK)
RUTAN: So, if we had made the cockpit a little bit bigger and then you didn't get as good of winds, he might have landed in California. And that's not a good thing.
PHILLIPS: No. And that was not the goal, of course.
Hey, while we have this live picture, we see Branson next to him. Who is the other person by his side, the female?
RUTAN: The female beside his side is -- is -- it looks like Steve Fossett's wife.
PHILLIPS: OK, that's what we were wondering. I wasn't sure. I didn't want to, of course, say anything unless I knew. But we kind of guessed that. Now, of course, we're watching the high school band kick into full gear.
SIEBERG: Burt, has Steve told you what he's going to do now that he's down on the ground? Has he mentioned what his...
(CROSSTALK)
RUTAN: You know, there are some, we think, phenomenally good uses for the Global Flyer in a bunch of different applications.
And Steve has never committed to us what he might do after the world flight with the airplane. And I can understand that, because, you know, the big focus is making this a successful flight. I think what we ought to do is let him have a chance to take a nap. And then I'm going to ask him that myself.
SIEBERG: That is what I was thinking, sort of near term, what he might be doing, sort of finding a bed and maybe a real meal or...
PHILLIPS: Burt Rutan, we got to take a quick break. We sure want to thank you for joining us live, the designer of this aircraft. I know you're going to have a chance to talk with Steve Fossett not long from now. We can't wait to get the debrief.
Thanks again for your time.
Once again, you've been watching live coverage of Steve Fossett as he made his way around the world, the Global Flyer pilot, three days nonstop, even losing some fuel.
HARRIS: That's right.
PHILLIPS: He made history.
HARRIS: Made history. three days, broke a record. There he is, Steve Fossett. This is another look at the landing, about an 8.5, according to Dick.
Burt says it was about an 8.5 landing.
We're going to take a break and come back with more of LIVE FROM right after this.
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HARRIS: It is a legal thriller in Santa Maria, California, as testimony continues in the Michael Jackson child molestation case today. Video now of Jackson arriving this morning to sit in as the prosecution continues to presents its case.
CNN's Miguel Marquez on what's been happening in the camera-free courtroom -- Miguel.
MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. It's a big day for prosecution. The sister of Michael Jackson's accuser is now on the stand, the prosecutor going step by step with her.
What she has testified so far to is that, in 2000, during her family's first visit to Neverland Ranch, it was her brother, the accuser, who suggested that he and his brother stay in Michael Jackson's bedroom. They did that. She and her parents stayed in the master bedroom, said she never went into Jackson's bedroom, never saw it.
Then she also testified that, when they were in Miami at a hotel there, that she saw her brother and Michael Jackson go into a room several times for 15 minutes to 30 minutes throughout the day when they were there. She also testified that they presented pictures of her brother and Kobe Bryant, and also of Chris Tucker, while he had cancer. She also testified that her father struck her mother more times than she could count, struck her and her brothers as well. And that testimony is continuing -- Tony.
Miguel Marquez live from Santa Maria, California, for us -- Miguel, thank you.
PHILLIPS: And this just in to CNN. It's coming straight from the jail cell at Chicago's Metropolitan Correctional Center.
White supremacist Matt Hale has issued his first statement this morning since, as you know, the story we've been covering with regard to the death of -- Judge Joan Humphrey Lefkow, you remember, who has presided over a number of trademark groups concerning white supremacist groups. Those critics out there have mentioned Matt Hale, his white supremacist group, that possibly he behind the murder of the judge's husband and mother.
He's now issuing this statement -- and I quote -- "There is simply no way that any supporter of mine would commit such a heinous crime. I totally condemn it and I want the perpetrator caught and prosecuted. I only hope that they sincerely wish to apprehend this animal, instead of railroading the innocent. Only an idiot would think that I would do this. My sentencing date is April 6."
Once again, this quote coming straight from Chicago's Metropolitan Correctional Center, where white supremacist Matt Hale issued this statement following the death of two family members of Judge Joan Humphrey Lefkow. You remember she presided over that trademark dispute involving the name of Hale's organization, and he has been -- the finger has been pointed at him as possibly being behind those murders.
We are going to take a quick break. We will be right back.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAROL LIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): One trader's greed led to the downfall of Britain's oldest merchant bank. This week in history on March 2, 1995, Nick Leeson was arrested and charged with fraud in connection with the Barings Bank collapse. And in 1998, Bill Gates defended his company during a U.S. Senate hearing. He denied that Microsoft was using its windows operating system to monopolize the Internet. And that is this week in history.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(FINANCIAL UPDATE)
HARRIS: And that wraps up this Thursday edition of LIVE FROM.
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