Millionaire Steve Fossett made his way into the record books — once again — when he successfully became the first person to fly solo nonstop around the world.
Fosset flew more than 67 hours nonstop in the Global Flyer, a Burt Rutan-designed aircraft, landing at 1:49 p.m. (CST) March 3 at Salina Municipal Airport (SLN) in Kansas, where he began his historic flight the evening of Feb. 28. Fossett is the first person to make the 23,000-mile trip around the globe alone without stopping or refueling.
An apparent problem with the fuel system caused some worries, prompting Fossett to consider ending the flight in Japan, and then Hawaii. But favorable tailwinds boosted Fossett’s confidence to continue his historic flight.