August 21 1998 15:00 CDT (20:00 UTC)

Transcript of Steve Fossett Press

Conference on board the

Endeavour when it docked in

Townsville, Queensland, Australia

Thursday, August 20. Estimated time 7:30 p.m.

Note: Tape is courtesy of The 7 Network, Australia.

Reporters' questions are not audible and therefore were not

transcribed. This will be available on the Solo Spirit

homepage at http://solospirit.wustl.edu.

Steve Fossett: Well, I wanted to tell you how grateful I am

for the rescue services. I needed to be rescued and they

really came to my aid. It started -- well, the first thing what I

needed to do was, this is a satellite EPIRB, satellite beacon,

that gives my location when I turn this on. This allowed

rescue services to know where I was. At morning light a

French guardian coming down from an airplane came down

from New Caledonia, and dropped a life raft to me, and that

protected me from the elements. After that, the Royal

Australian Air Force came over flying a Hercules and

continued to drop water and rations to me, and also

maintained watch of my position until I could be rescued from

the water. After the Hercules had flown for seven hours over

me, then the -- also from the Australian Air Force -- the

(name of airplane - can't understand it) flew over me until I

was finally taken from the water by a private yacht, the

Atlanta, that was on an around the world cruise.

After spending that night on Atlanta, then I was transferred to

the New Zealand war ship Endeavour, and was brought here

to port. And I think, I think this was an excellent example of a

very successful rescue operation, and I was obviously very

delighted that it was done successfully. My life was at stake. I

hope everyone is very pleased with how well the rescue

services have worked by France, New Zealand and

Australia.

I'm going to have to do some debriefing as to what really

happened. I was flying at an altitude above the thunderstorm

line, which was clearing the tops of the thunderstorm. But I

suspect there was some interaction with the tops of the

thunderstorm and the jet stream where I was flying, which

was at 29,000 feet, and I started a descent. At first the

descent was at 500 feet a minute, and then I reversed it by

turning on the burners and climbing back up. But then I was

already under the influence of the thunderstorm and started a

descent of 1,500 feet a minute. I used the burners more and I

flew back up at an extreme rate of 1,500 feet a minute. And I

believe at that point the balloon ruptured. So I started a

descent, and I don't know how fast the descent was because

my variometer has a maximum rate on it of 2,500 feet a

minute and it was pegged at 2,500 feet a minute for my entire

descent down from 29,000 feet to the surface.

So in order to try to slow this descent I turned on the burners

full blast, and then I had some auxiliary high power burners

which I also turned on. And still I was descending at this rate

and I was in a thunderstorm and the balloon was being

buffeted very heavily back and forth. The burners were

melting the edge of the balloon and it was dripping polyester

on me and ropes were burning, and meanwhile there were

just sheets of hail in the middle of the thunderstorm, sweeping

over me. At that point, I actually said out loud that, "I'm going

to die," because I couldn't arrest this descent rate. When I

got down to the final 2,000 feet of the descent I cut away a

large number of the tanks to lighten the load of the balloon.

Then I laid down on the bench inside my capsule to take the

impact on my back. But it was still reading over 2,500 feet a

minute when I hit the water. I believe that when I hit the water

I probably was just briefly knocked unconscious and I

awakened with the capsule half fill of water, capsized. So I

needed to scramble out of the capsule and I took two things

with me -- I took my small life raft and the EPIRB and swam

out the bottom of the capsule, and tried to stay with the

balloon after that. The balloon was blowing around, and I lost

contact with it and just floated in my life raft that night.

(Inaudible question from reporter).

Steve Fossett: No, I didn't have a chance to turn on the

capsule's [cameras] when this was going on so there's no

pictures of the descent itself.

(Inaudible question from reporter)

Steve Fossett: I haven't decided that but I have suffered a

total loss of equipment and would not be able to be prepared

for this coming season, which is the December and January

season in the northern hemisphere. So I'm out of the picture

for the time being in the around-the-world competition.

(Inaudible question from reporter)

Steve Fossett: As far as the salvage of the balloon is

concerned, I did charter an airplane to fly out to locate the

balloon the first day after I was there. The airplane failed to

find it, and I believe an airplane went again yesterday. We

would like to salvage the equipment, not only to get it out of

the water, but also because there's film inside the capsule and

some personal effects.

(Inaudible question from reporter)

Steve Fossett: Well, it leaves an open field for the

competitors. Richard Branson is one of the competitors.

There may be as many as six teams flying in the

December-January period. I think we're getting very close to

success in this around-the-world balloon endeavor, so I think

there's a good chance that one of them will succeed this year,

and I won't be in a position to compete with them.

(Inaudible question from reporter)

Steve Fossett: Well, this is very frustrating. First, this flight

was intended to be successful. It was an all out effort by my

team, and by myself. We took this on with the full expectation

of being successful this time, and now I didn't make it around.

It is very frustrating to find -- I believe I do have the best

team. I have made the four longest flights in the history of

ballooning now, this one being the longest. I feel like we were

in a leading contender situation, but we're not in a position to

compete against the other teams that will be flying this

December and January.

(Inaudible question from reporter)

Steve Fossett: Well, that would be something I would only

discuss at the request of those governments. But I think

search and rescue is something that has been done over time

by governments, and I think France, New Zealand and

Australia should be very proud of the caliber of their rescue

services. They did it very well. I think that should be the focus

rather than the dollars and cents.

(Inaudible question from reporter)

Steve Fossett: Well, I don't have a good answer. I'm not in

a good position to answer those questions because if you run

a search and rescue mission, you have to run it. You can not

ask a person will they pay in the process of saving their life.

So you have to decide if you're running a search and rescue

mission to save lives or whether you're not going to run one.

(Inaudible question from reporter)

Steve Fossett: I believe what I was involved in -- you're

trying to do something that has never been done before. And

I think I didn't -- I totally expected to be successful, but was

unfortunate and was not successful and needed to be

rescued. But I think it's important that we be able to take on

adventures which represent doing things for the very first

time. If people weren't willing to do things for the very first

time, think of what would not have gotten done in our

civilization. So I do believe that it is proper that I should

make this attempt. I believe making the first

around-the-world balloon flight would be an important

achievement. I'm very sorry that it did result in a rescue, and

that it also almost resulted in the loss of my life. But I believe

it was worthy to make the attempt.

(Inaudible question from reporter)

Steve Fossett: I would not respond to that question from

you personally. If the government of any of the countries

involved approached me, I would sit down with them and

discuss that seriously.

(Inaudible question from reporter)

Steve Fossett: I don't know. This was a sobering

experience. This was the closest I've come in my entire life to

being killed. And as a result of reaching out into the unknown,

where we didn't understand the behavior above the top of the

thunderstorm, and the consequences of this around-the-world

ballooning are so severe where we don't understand what's

going on. I'm not sure I should keep going every year and

taking this risk. So I'll have to evaluate that, but I'll have lots

of time. But as I say, I can't do anything about it for this

December-January season anyhow. And if it remains undone,

then I shall reexamine the question whether I should go again.

(Inaudible question from reporter)

Steve Fossett: The around-the-world balloon flight needs to

be done in winter wind conditions. So when I'm speaking of

December-January, those would be northern hemisphere

attempts. I've made the first southern hemisphere attempt --

this being, of course, winter conditions in the southern

hemisphere.

(Inaudible question from reporter)

Steve Fossett: The challenge is to be the first person to

make a flight around the world by balloon. And once that's

done I think the competition is essentially over.

(Inaudible question from reporter)

Steve Fossett: I would never want to pretend that this could

be compared to major technological achievements like flying

to the moon. But there are some improvements that are

made. First of all there's the advancing the science of

ballooning itself. We're making flights that had never been

approached just a few years ago. So we have developed the

technology within ballooning. I don't know what the ultimate

use of it is. I can't answer those questions.

(Inaudible question from reporter)

Steve Fossett: Well, I'm very active in sailing, so I also

aspire to sail around the world.

(Inaudible question from reporter)

Steve Fossett: Well, in fact, I was in the life raft sleeping at

the time. And then the Atlanta pulled up and basically woke

me up and brought me on board. We pulled all of the life raft

equipment that had been dropped by the Royal Australian Air

Force. Got all of that out of the water and sat down and had

a nice dinner of mahi mahi.

(Inaudible question from reporter)

Steve Fossett: In many ways I'm very lucky to survive. But

also, if I had not done the right things, there is no chance that

I would have survived. So on the descent of the balloon,

taking the steps that I did to stop the descent, and then

cutting away the tanks during the last 2,000 feet, made the

difference between surviving and not surviving. Then the other

point was being able to identify my location so the rescue

control centers would be able to find me. Fortunately I made

the right moves -- I don't always -- but in this case I made

the right moves which made it possible for me to survive.

(Inaudible question from reporter)

Steve Fossett: I'm going home immediately -- tomorrow.

And I look forward to sitting back, and going out to a

restaurant with my wife, and just enjoying a normal life for a

period of time now.

(Inaudible question from reporter)

Steve Fossett: When I called her after I'd been rescued, she

said, "Well, I hope now you won't do this anymore." So, she

would rather I not do this.

(Inaudible question from reporter)

Steve Fossett: It's wonderful to be brought on board and to

be -- because it's all part of the coordination of the rescues

from the start with the French, on to the Royal Australian Air

Force, to the Atlanta and finally, on to the Endeavour. So it's

quite a good feeling to be there, and actually it was a very

enjoyable time. They really showed me around the ship, and

the navigator on the Endeavour was teaching me

astro-navigation, so I had an enjoyable trip into port.

(Inaudible question from reporter)

Steve Fossett: I had enough fuel to finish the

around-the-world balloon flight, and other supplies. We

estimated approximately four to five days to reach Argentina

for the successful around-the-world flight.

(Inaudible question from reporter)

Steve Fossett: In fact, I spoke to Richard Branson

yesterday. He called me to say how happy he was that I

survived. And I pointed out that there's so much we don't

understand about the behavior of balloons and altitude, and

that this is very dangerous and that I wasn't really sure that

we should be attempting this because of the danger. So I

think all the balloonists have to -- if they want to do this, they

have to accept the fact that they're dealing with the unknown

because they're trying to do something that's never been done

before.

(Inaudible question from reporter)

Steve Fossett: The approach by the mixed

Australian-American team to fly, in effect, a high altitude

weather balloon, of course, completely avoids the weather.

But it goes altitudes that are really in a space environment. So

if anything goes wrong, they can't go outside the capsule to fix

it, as I could. And the consequences of depressurization in

the capsule would be immediately fatal. So I think they have

to have much more redundant equipment, so I think they have

a larger technological task than I've had.

(Inaudible question from reporter)

Steve Fossett: No I didn't think there was time to invite

anyone over to meet me here. I decided instead on my arrival

that I'd just head back immediately to the United States.

(Inaudible question from reporter)

Steve Fossett: I haven't had a chance to talk to them except

for the team manager. He told me that they were all very

proud of the flight -- that they thought I'd flown it well, that it

was a successful flight. The flight was 22,900 kilometers,

which extended the distance record for ballooning by 6,000

kilometers. So that was what my team manager told me, was

that they were very pleased with the flight.

(Inaudible question from reporter)

Steve Fossett: The rescue was as good as it could be

because, of course, I had gone down in the middle of the

night. And there wasn't anything they could do in the middle

of the night, but in the morning, right away, the French

guardian aircraft was out to drop a raft, and immediately

following that the Royal Australian Air Force was there. So I

thought the rescue was very effective.

(Inaudible question from reporter)

Steve Fossett: I think I'm absolutely appreciative and I feel

something in common with them for what they've done and to

be involved in the entire rescue process.

(Inaudible question from reporter)

Steve Fossett: Well, yes, it's very reassuring to have the

Royal Australian Air Force staying with me until the rescue

was complete. I think it was a matter of thoroughness that

they stayed with the project until the rescue was complete.

(Inaudible question from reporter)

Steve Fossett: Oh yes, we talked on the radio.

(Inaudible question from reporter)

Steve Fossett: I would estimate something under ten

minutes. So I did have time to do various things, even at that

descent rate. I wish I could have stopped the balloon from

falling.

(Inaudible question from reporter)

Steve Fossett: I was preparing the capsule for ditching. The

ditching procedure is to have your cable cutters and be

prepared to cut away the capsule -- or cut away the balloon

from the capsule upon hitting the water. But unfortunately I

wasn't able to complete that procedure, so when I did hit the

water the balloon actually stayed attached to the capsule and

dragged the capsule into the water.

(Inaudible question from reporter)

Steve Fossett: At that rate of descent -- well anything over

2,000 feet a minute is not considered to be survivable in a

balloon landing. So this landing in excess of 2,500 feet is

beyond the parameters of expected survival. I think that it

worked out for a couple of reasons. One is that I was able to

lay on my back on a bunk and take the impact in that manner.

I think the capsule itself absorbed impact hitting the water. It

might have been a quite different result if it were on land,

however, without the softness of the water itself.

(Inaudible question from reporter)

Steve Fossett: I think it was at the final stages of the fall,

going out and cutting away about 2,000 pounds worth of fuel

and oxygen tanks. And I think that slowed the descent rate

enough that it became survivable.

(Inaudible question from reporter)

Steve Fossett: My capsule is an unpressurized capsule with

a bubble hatch. So I open up the bubble hatch and go outside

with a cutaway knife.

(Inaudible question from reporter)

Steve Fossett: Well, even though I believed that I would not

survive it, I figured I might as well just keep on working on

the problem. So I just kept working on the problem all the

way down, right down to the point of the last 500 feet to lay

down on the bench to take the impact.

(Inaudible question from reporter)

Steve Fossett: I think it did knock me out just briefly

because I don't remember a hard impact. I can remember

seeing the moment on the altimeter and feeling the initial

moment of reaching the water. But I do not have any memory

of the capsule capsizing and starting to fill with water.

(Inaudible question from reporter)

Steve Fossett: The capsule was half-fill of water and upside

down, and was on fire from the burning propane tanks. And

the capsule was burning through from the outside, filling full of

resin fumes, and I had to get out of there fast.

(Inaudible question from reporter)

Kevin Corles, Commander of Endeavour: This has been

quite exciting. We don't get involved in rescues very often,

and it was certainly the first one anyone had been involved in

involving a balloon.

(Inaudible question from reporter)

Kevin Corles: I had the difficulty of the decision to make

about whether to go into the reef at nighttime. And there was

a lot of training in the navigation of the reef area and that kind

of activity.

(Inaudible question from reporter)

Kevin Corles: He did an excellent job. I guess it was

fortunate that he had been in that area before and had some

knowledge of the region. But to go in there at nighttime was

taking some of the risk himself. In fact, when he picked up

Mr. Fossett, he took the decision to then stop, (a) to get

some rest, and I think also because if he didn't he'd have to

renegotiate the reef and come out the remainder of the reef at

nighttime.

(Inaudible question from reporter)

Kevin Corles: Oh it was very simple. We have a inflatable

boat which we sent across to the Atlanta when it was still five

miles away and Mr. Fossett, I guess, just stepped into it.

(Inaudible question from reporter)

Kevin Corles: No, we were on our way, steaming heavily

from Auckland to Townsville when I got the word that we

were required to do something else.

(Inaudible question from reporter)

Steve Fossett: I'm basically uninjured. I have some bruises

on my back and some cuts on my scalp, but, very much to

my surprise, I came out of the capsule with essentially no

injuries.

(Inaudible question from reporter)

Steve Fossett: My budget for the year for this ballooning

project was approximately $400,000 US.

(Inaudible question from reporter)

Steve Fossett: In fact, I was going to run out of oxygen,

probably during the last one to two days of the flight. But I

was climatized pretty well, so I believe I would have been

able to finish the flight flying at an altitude of approximately

22,000 feet or 7,000 meters.

(Inaudible question from reporter)

Steve Fossett: We would hope that the salvage is taking

place either today or tomorrow. I don't have any assurance

that we will be successful in the salvage, but it's something

that we've been trying to get done.

(Inaudible question from reporter)

Steve Fossett: The Atlanta. I made arrangements with the

Atlanta that they would actually bring the equipment on

board. But they can't locate the balloon. We may know

where the balloon is within ten miles, but if you're in a boat,

on the surface, you won't be able to find it, even though it's

within ten miles. We needed the airplane to spot it on order

to direct the Atlanta to get there to salvage the equipment.

(Inaudible question from reporter)

Steve Fossett: The first one that went out did not find it. I

paid part of the cost of that airplane.

(Inaudible question from reporter)

Steve Fossett: I believe that there's some news media that

paying the cost of the airplane.

(Inaudible question from reporter)

Steve Fossett: In my own way. I'm not actively religious as

such. Inactive Methodist.

(Inaudible question from reporter)

Kevin Corles: I've been involved in search and rescue three

to four years.

(Inaudible question from reporter)

Steve Fossett: Only with respect to our hopes of what we

thought it would be -- to make the first around-the-world

balloon flight. If we were to measure it as just a balloon flight

itself, we would have to say it was a successful balloon flight.

It was the longest ever done. But it was a disappointment

only against the standard we had set on it.

(Inaudible question from reporter)

Steve Fossett: I think it's an unusual opportunity at a time

when some people had even said that all the great

explorations have been done. In fact, the explorations haven't

been done, and this is one that has not been done. It's also a

great adventure. It's fascinating in all of its perimeters - in the

developing of custom equipment, to do it and the endurance

preparations required to make it a successful flight. It's a

fascinating project and I think whoever succeeds will also

earn themselves a place in aviation history.

(Inaudible question from reporter)

Steve Fossett: I have a fairly good workload of

communications, navigation, making certain repairs to the

equipment, in addition to flying the balloon. In the eight and a

half days I was aloft I did read one book, but that's it.

(Inaudible question from reporter)

Steve Fossett: Oh, it was a history of Hawaiian royalty, but

mainly I was working and focusing on the balloon flight itself.

(Inaudible question from reporter)

Steve Fossett: My situation is a little bit different. I'm

involved in this -- I've been involved in the around-the-world

balloon competition because I wanted to make the

achievement itself. I'm not very interested in the publicity

associated with it. I don't have any sponsors that I need to

maximize publicity for. Yes, I would like to make the

achievement, and it be a matter of record that I made that

achievement. But I'm not seeking notoriety or fame in a

normal sense.

(Inaudible question from reporter)

Steve Fossett: I think it's heading back and going out to a

good restaurant.

(Inaudible question from reporter)

Steve Fossett: I'll be leaving for the States tomorrow.

(Inaudible question from reporter)

Steve Fossett: I couldn't predict. I know I'm out of the

competition for the time being.

(Inaudible question from reporter)

Steve Fossett: Well, when you think you know all the

perimeters of the risk, and then find out that there's another

one you hadn't anticipated. For instance, I thought I was safe

if I just flew above the thunderstorm. And then I found out

that wasn't high enough. It was quite a surprise, and how

many more surprises are there out there?

(Inaudible question from reporter)

Steve Fossett: It was maybe too much of an adventure.