Wiltshire explorer Sir David Hempleman-Adams abandons Atlantic balloon attempt

Wiltshire explorer Sir David Hempleman-Adams and his team have abandoned their attempt to become the first to cross the Atlantic in an open-basket hydrogen balloon.

Sir David - who is 67 and lives near Corsham - had taken off with two other explorers from Presque Isle in Maine, USA, at 3.30am UK time on Saturday, or 10.30pm on Friday local time.

Their attempt had already been postponed twice due to bad weather conditions but this time, the weather had “cleared up perfectly” for the launch, according to the team.

But due to bad weather, they were forced to land in New Brunswick, Canada, seven hours into the flight at 10.40, UK time.

Conditions meant the balloon would have been required to fly at an altitude higher than planned, meaning an increased use of ballast.

A spokeswoman said: “The crew have decided to land the balloon before the Gulf of St Lawrence. They concluded they would not have had enough ballast to make it to Europe.”

She added: "The crew are safe and well. It was a very difficult decision and they are obviously extremely disappointed but safety is obviously paramount.

"They flew for about seven hours, the highest level they flew at was 10,000 feet and about 125 nautical miles in distance.”

She confirmed they would attempt the challenge again when conditions allow.

During their trip, the team planned to conduct experiments including a study to ascertain how particles from forest fires travel through the atmosphere and affect conditions such as asthma.

Their living space was the balloon basket which measures 80 inches long and 60 inches wide.

Had they been successful, their trip would have been the first Atlantic crossing in a hydrogen balloon. Sir David has already crossed the Atlantic twice in a different type of open-basket balloon.