Pilots in helium-filled balloon land safely after record trip

Albuquergue - Two pilots in a helium-filled balloon landed safely off the coast of Mexico on Saturday after a record-breaking trip across the Pacific Ocean.

The pilots landed off Baja California about 480km north of Cabo San Lucas, greeted by a team of balloon enthusiasts who assisted with the landing. The pilots came in low and dropped thick trailing ropes into the ocean to slow the balloon before setting down in a controlled water landing.

Troy Bradley of Albuquerque and Leonid Tiukhtyaev of Russia beat what's considered the "holy grail" of ballooning achievements, the 137-hour duration record in the first balloon flight across the Atlantic.

They also easily exceeded the distance record of 8 383km set during the first trans-Pacific flight in 1981.