FLY ME TO THE MOON, LET ME PLAY AMONG THE STARS...
Jonathan Trappe soars in his bid to become the first man to cross the Atlantic in a balloon cluster system. Photograph: Paul Cyr / Barcroft USA
An American aviator has begun the first attempt to cross the Atlantic suspended by hundreds of coloured balloons. Jonathan Trappe took off from Caribou, Maine, on Thursday morning as his capsule was lifted by 370 helium-filled balloons in heavy fog and he headed east from the US.
The concept may sound like the story from the Disney film Up but Trappe, 39, specialises in cluster ballooning and was the first person to cross the Channel and the Alps using the method.
The transatlantic trip could be as long as 2,500 miles (4,000km) and take between three and five days. Depending on the weather, he could land anywhere between Iceland and Morocco.
OOPS! COMING BACK DOWN...
Jonathan Trappe with the boat attached to clusters of balloons, which he hoped would carry him across the Atlantic. Photograph: Alexandre Ayer/Barcroft USA
An American aviator who was trying to cross the Atlantic suspended from 370 helium-filled balloons has had to abandon his effort just 12 hours and about 350 miles into the trip.
Jonathan Trappe landed in a remote part of Newfoundland, Canada, on Thursday night after putting a message on his Facebook page reading : "Hmm this doesn't look like France."
