Balloonist Gets Permission to Fly Over Libya
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ST. LOUIS — Just hours after he rerouted his flight Saturday to avoid Libya, Steve Fossett got permission to fly over the North African country on his quest to be the first person to pilot a balloon around the world.
Team members were reevaluating their options to decide whether they should redirect Fossett to seek wind currents that would carry him across Libya, said Tim Cole, a member of the Washington University-based team. A spokeswoman later said Fossett could probably avoid the country.
Libya’s hesitance to let Fossett fly over its territory last year led to the failure of an earlier globe-circling attempt.
Fossett, a 53-year-old commodities trader from Chicago, took off from St. Louis on Wednesday on his fourth try to circle the globe. By 6 p.m. PST, Fossett was over central Romania, northwest of Bucharest, flying at 24,000 feet about 40 mph.
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