So there I am leaving work at the airport early at 1640 on Saturday to rush back home to catch the rugby. Watched a great match and what do I see on the tv news afterwards:
The Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer experienced a large scale electrical malfunction just as Steve was preparing for his 40,000ft descent into Kent International Airport. After Steve issued his Mayday call, communication with Jon Karkow and Mission Control reinforced his concern that he would not be able to land in Kent and said he would have to seek alternative options by either landing in Cardiff or Bournemouth.
Having landed in Bournemouth Airport in the past and knowing it was downwind, Steve opted to attempt his landing there. However Steve's landing was further complicated by a lack of visibility after ice had covered the cockpit window. With only 200lb of fuel left and with an aircraft in major electrical malfunction, Steve was not able to fly around and wait for the ice to disappear. He had to land immediately, even if this meant navigating the plane while virtually blind. As the plane hit the ground at 17:07UTC on Saturday, two tyres burst making the landing even more dangerous than before.
Steve said: "It was too exciting of a finish. There were many obstacles to overcome from the moment I took off from Kennedy Space Centre, from the challenging takeoff, difficult cockpit conditions for the early part of the flight, severe turbulence over India and constant concerns over the weakness of the jet streams due to the less than favourable weather patterns around the world.
"But never during all of this would I have believed that 45mins out of Kent I would be in an emergency situation the like of which I have rarely experienced before."
Richard Branson praised Steve as a "remarkable man and a great friend".
He said: "I believe this is Steve's greatest achievement to date and we are absolutely delighted that he has achieved this remarkable feat. I believe that this record will stand for many, many years to come as it would take someone extraordinary to take this one on."
The two men toasted each other with a glass of champagne and Richard said: "He's alive, he's in one piece and he's got the record."
Craig Glenday, the editor of Guinness World Records, was present to award Steve with his certificate for breaking the record for the Longest Non Stop Flight.
I did get to see it today before it was dragged into the hanger and that is an awesome piece of tecchnology (the entire wing is carbon fibre and it's flexible!). One cool piece of kit!
"How bad can it be?" - SimpleS
The Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer experienced a large scale electrical malfunction just as Steve was preparing for his 40,000ft descent into Kent International Airport. After Steve issued his Mayday call, communication with Jon Karkow and Mission Control reinforced his concern that he would not be able to land in Kent and said he would have to seek alternative options by either landing in Cardiff or Bournemouth.
Having landed in Bournemouth Airport in the past and knowing it was downwind, Steve opted to attempt his landing there. However Steve's landing was further complicated by a lack of visibility after ice had covered the cockpit window. With only 200lb of fuel left and with an aircraft in major electrical malfunction, Steve was not able to fly around and wait for the ice to disappear. He had to land immediately, even if this meant navigating the plane while virtually blind. As the plane hit the ground at 17:07UTC on Saturday, two tyres burst making the landing even more dangerous than before.
Steve said: "It was too exciting of a finish. There were many obstacles to overcome from the moment I took off from Kennedy Space Centre, from the challenging takeoff, difficult cockpit conditions for the early part of the flight, severe turbulence over India and constant concerns over the weakness of the jet streams due to the less than favourable weather patterns around the world.
"But never during all of this would I have believed that 45mins out of Kent I would be in an emergency situation the like of which I have rarely experienced before."
Richard Branson praised Steve as a "remarkable man and a great friend".
He said: "I believe this is Steve's greatest achievement to date and we are absolutely delighted that he has achieved this remarkable feat. I believe that this record will stand for many, many years to come as it would take someone extraordinary to take this one on."
The two men toasted each other with a glass of champagne and Richard said: "He's alive, he's in one piece and he's got the record."
Craig Glenday, the editor of Guinness World Records, was present to award Steve with his certificate for breaking the record for the Longest Non Stop Flight.
I did get to see it today before it was dragged into the hanger and that is an awesome piece of tecchnology (the entire wing is carbon fibre and it's flexible!). One cool piece of kit!
"How bad can it be?" - SimpleS