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American Morning

Fossett Abandons Attempt to Circle Globe Due to Weather

Aired August 17, 2001 - 10:01   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.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: We're going to begin this hour with a story of soaring heights and crushing disappointment. Earlier this morning, millionaire Steve Fossett announced that he is abandoning his latest effort to circle the globe in a hot air balloon. Bad weather doomed this adventure just hours after passing the halfway mark of the trip and capturing the record for the longest solo balloon flight in the process.

The announcement, which was seen live right here on CNN, came from the journey's mission control center in St. Louis, Missouri, which is where our Jeff Flock is posted. And I believe that the press conference that was under way there may be just about to break up, and Jeff is joining us now.

Jeff?

JEFF FLOCK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Leon. It just broke up just a moment ago and I want to try to get over to a couple of the principles there and give you the very latest. They were talking about how they brought him down, and I want to talk to Bob Rice. The last time I saw Bob Rice was at the bottom of a quarry in Rockford, Illinois, when Kevin Uliassi was taking off in his attempt. Bob was the man who was calling the weather shots.

Ultimately, it was the weather that just did him in, correct?

BOB RICE, CHIEF METEOROLOGIST: Kevin -- no. Kevin in that start, his balloon failed, actually. He was about three hours into the flight and about 20-some odd thousand feet and the thing blew apart. So, no, that was not a weather thing.

FLOCK: No, I mean -- I'm talking about Steve now.

RICE: Steve, yes, I'm sorry. Steve -- yes, I would have to say it was weather-induced, but there were other factors that did play into it. There's no question about that. The pilot was fatigued. It was a -- he had been a long, long time up there.

FLOCK: How much danger would he have been in if he went through another three days worth of thunderstorms and all of that?

RICE: Well, you can't. That's playing Russian Roulette. If you're flying around thunderstorms or large cells of that nature, then ultimately one of them is going to reach out and bite you. And so I -- and where we're forced to keep a low-altitude profile, it would have been dangerous, I think. That was really the primary factor.

FLOCK: Bob, I want to ask you, based on your experience -- I know we've got a picture, and perhaps we can take it, of the mission control over here, which is obviously a lot quieter now. You've been on a number of these missions.

I know there's some disappointment, but you were the person who's in charge of keeping things safe, also. So how do you balance those in your mind?

RICE: Well, with some difficulty, actually. I mean, you're trying to get a pattern that will work, but of course, when you get into these long flights -- I mean, back when we were doing trans- Atlantic and trans-Pacific, they seemed like very long balloon flights at the time. But now we're in a position where you've got to have the entire world fit into your plan. So, yes. Primary concern is always safety, but that usually goes hand and hand with the ability to do it.

FLOCK: And lastly, before we get away, I just need to ask you -- is it impossible for a man to do this solo? Is that too much to ask?

RICE: No, I don't think so. Not a bit. Steve was up long enough to have done it. If we -- we're relating to launching and there's only about six or seven hours, but amazingly, we went from the ability to do about 60-some odd knots down to about 20 some-odd knots. And that's the way weather works. While you're fooling around, it just keeps moving. So, give him a faster pattern and he could have done it.

FLOCK: It can be done.

RICE: It can be done. There's no question about it.

FLOCK: And I don't doubt you may be part of it, Bob Rice.

RICE: Getting too old for this.

FLOCK: Getting too old for this sort of thing. Well, there you go. I appreciate the perspective. Thank you, sir. Good to see you again. The latest from here, obviously, mission control now pretty much wrapping up, and the recovery part of this starts. And of course, that's a tall order too. We'll watch it.

That's the latest from here, Leon. Back to you.

HARRIS: All right, Jeff. We can't wait to finally catch up with Steve Fossett to hear him and see if he's going to say that he's getting too old for this stuff. All right, thanks much.

FLOCK: Fifty-seven.

HARRIS: And people still don't think he's too old for this. All right, thanks, Jeff. We'll get back to you later on.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Fifty-seven is just the beginning. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com