Fossett closes in on air record

With 21,461 miles on the clock, adventurer Steve Fossett is inching ever closer to his target of becoming the first person to fly solo non stop around the world.

Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer has been in the air for more than 61 hours and is due to land at 1.20pm local time (7.20pm Irish time) in Salina, Kansas, if all goes well.

The sleep-deprived pilot is currently passing over California and clearly relieved to have made it safely across the Pacific.

After sleeping for only two minutes at a time throughout the trip, he said he had really “perked up” when he realised how close he was.

“I am really looking forward to getting back, this trip is quite a lot of work for one person, I have to say that.”

The challenge was seemingly in question yesterday when it emerged that the aircraft had apparently “lost” 2,600lbs of fuel shortly after take-off and was relying on strong tail winds to return to the start point in Salina, Kansas.

But at 8am local time (2pm Irish time) today, he still had 1,900lbs of fuel on board and support staff at Mission Control were confident he would be successful.

There was speculation that the news of the low fuel had been a ruse to inject more drama into the attempt and get the media interested.

But the project’s sponsor, Virgin Boss Richard Branson, insisted: “I think that the incredible thing in life is that truth is stranger than fiction.”

Chief engineer and test pilot Jon Karkow said he was always pessimistic when problems arose and had been genuinely concerned when they discovered the shortfall in the fuel.