Fossett heading for North American landmass on 2nd half of voyage

0 Comments | AFP, February, 2006

LONDON (AFP) — US aviator Steve Fossett was on the last half of his solo bid to set a new global benchmark for the longest flight as he approached North America in his Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer.

The 61-year-old adventurer set off Wednesday from NASA's Kennedy Space Centre in Cape Canaveral, Florida, and has so far crossed the Atlantic Ocean, north Africa, Saudi Arabia, the Arabian Gulf, and most of the Pacific.

In a telephone interview with British-based Sky News television, Fossett said he was within 45 minutes of the Californian coast.

His website www.virginatlanticglobalflyer.com. had earlier said his first sight of land would be Baja Peninsula in Mexico.

Fossett passed the halfway point over Japan at 0100 GMT.

A spokeswoman at mission...