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ALBUQUERQUE — A pair of American and Russian pilots has traveled farther and longer in a gas balloon than anyone in history.
The Two Eagles pilots surpassed the distance and duration records that have held since the 1970s and 1980s, and were aiming Friday for a safe landing on a beach in Mexico’s Baja California peninsula.
Troy Bradley of Albuquerque and Leonid Tiukhtyaev of Russia lifted off from Japan on Sunday morning. By Friday, they beat what’s considered the “holy grail” of ballooning achievements, the 137-hour duration record set in 1978.
By Friday afternoon, the Two Eagles team had been in the air more than 143 hours and was smashing the distance record, having traveled more than 6,000 miles across the Pacific Ocean.
