FOSSETT BALLOON LAUNCH MASTER TIM COLE AND GONDOLA AFTER ANOTHER WEATHER DELAY IN KALGOORLIE.
Launch master Tim Cole stands near the gondola of American millionaire adventurer Steve Fossett's "Solo Spirit" in a hangar at Kalgoorlie airport after another weather delay in western Australia June 5, 2001. Fossett, yet to arrive in Australia, plans to take off from Kalgoorlie in June in his third attempt to complete the first solo circumnavigation of the Earth by balloon. Fossett's previous attempt ended in August 1998 when a thunderstorm ruptured his balloon and he survived a plunge of 8500 metres into the Coral Sea.
WB/CP