According to CNN.com, the US Coast Guard is searching for balloonist Michio Kanda after he failed to check in by satellite phone. Kanda was attempting a solo crossing of the Pacific by hot air balloon, and went missing off the coast of Alaska.
Read said two Coast Guard C130 Hercules planes conducted searches Thursday 435 miles south of Adak, Alaska, the balloonist’s last known position. The searches continued Friday and are ongoing, Read said.
(CNN.com)
He carried supplies and survival gear, but it certainly sounds bad. Hopefully, it’s just a problem with the radio.
Update (Feb. 4): On the assumption that Kanda would have ditched in the ocean, Coast Guard continues to search for his capsule.
They are using computer-aided drift simulation to estimate the current position of the capsule. Based on these computer simulations and weather observations, they are explanding tomorrow to the Northeast to encompass a larger area.
A 378 foot Coast Guard cutter is on its way – estimated arrival 7 or 8 February. They have a helicopter on board, which they will use if weather allows.
(Link: kandaupdate.wordpress.com: “Report from US Coastguard in Juneau“)