US investigates record balloonist

The balloon set off from Colorado in its record-breaking attempt

Adventurer David Hempleman-Adams is being investigated for entering restricted airspace during his world altitude balloon record attempt.

The 47-year-old from Wiltshire landed safely in Colorado on Tuesday after reaching a claimed 43,000ft.

Officials in America are investigating whether he was issued with a US licence for the Roziere balloon flight, and whether he was in restricted airspace.

A spokeswoman for the flight claimed all proper permissions were obtained.

However, America's Federal Aviation Administration could seek civil penalties, including fines.

Mr Hempleman-Adams and his flight director Tim Cole were resting after the flight and were unavailable for comment.

'Permissions obtained'

Mr Cole's wife Vikki said: "He has flown out of the US before and never had any problems. All the proper permissions were received before the flight took place."

Mr Hempleman-Adams endured temperatures a low as -80C and breathed oxygen to cope with the thin air during the record-breaking flight which lasted about three-and-a-half hours.

Speaking after the feat he said he was tired, and looking forward going home - but was already contemplating his next challenge.

"I would still like to fly over Everest one day and will never say never to a challenge," the explorer said.

"I am a pragmatic person and if your number is up it's up.

"But you can take precautions to minimalise risks and this team work well together."

Mr Hempleman-Adams spent Tuesday evening celebrating with the team, which is confident it has broken the record but is still waiting for official confirmation.

He said: "This is a fantastic record, everything went perfectly and I think I have broken eight world records including the absolute altitude record for an open-basket Roziere balloon.

"I never expected to reach that height."

'Too nervous to look'

But the explorer said he did not dare look out of the basket.

"It was so cold - the wind speeds were high and I was too nervous to look down at the view.

"It was pretty scary and I was concentrating on getting back down. I could see the jet lines below me."

The father-of-three from Box, Wiltshire, described the landing in a field 10 miles north east of Akron as one of his best.

He landed before 1015 local time (1715 GMT) in the Roziere.

Flight director Tim Cole said he believed Mr Hempleman-Adams had succeeded in his record bid but that official confirmation could take months.

The launch took place a day earlier than expected due to the good weather conditions and Mr Hempleman-Adams said he was relieved it was now over.

The explorer believes he broke the current Federation Aeronautique Internationale (FAI) record, which was set by Per Lindstrand in November 1996.