Transcript for This day in history: March 21, 1999

Turning now to other news after sailing into the record books to balloonists are safely back on terra firma tonight. Bertrand Picard and Brian Jones landed in the Egyptian desert this morning almost a full day after they made aviation history. ABC's Gillian Findlay is there. It all came to an end in a remote corner of the Egyptian desert spot chosen because of pilots want it to land in a friendly country the daylights. Today there was no welcome no reception as they brought their balloon down the only cheers came from their team members. Paula we get a plane above. You're. Yeah. Inside populace and Ohio. 6 o'clock. But after twenty days in 29000. Miles the ordeal was not over yet. The team that landed miles away from any wrote dozens of miles from the nearest airport. The Egyptian military was not being cooperative. Most of the day the organizers negotiated with the Egyptian authorities. How to get that through pilot. Then you would battled obstacle after obstacle to fly around the world now trapped in the desert just sixty miles away. At one point the organizers were prepared to set off in jeeps to drive through sand and take necessary to get to that. Before they could egyptians change their minds. After seven hours in the desert the pilots were finally helicoptered out to keep their first account of their record setting journey. Just before the finished nine of I really it was different that's something we go wrong on that we would fail by a quarter of an hour. And even when we trusted finish line we couldn't believe that we did it's. As to why they succeeded when so many others have failed time and talk of how the trip had created a bomb. It was almost entirely appropriate Atlanta. But I of the consulate verifying defenseman days that we have Cleveland. We could see nothing funny. And it. C Verizon. The two heroes couldn't be more different Bertrand Picard is a noted adventurer from a family of adventurers his grandfather set balloon altitude records in the thirties. Brian Jones on the other hand almost didn't make the flight he was a backup pilot have only got the job after two other candidates pulled out. Reunited with their families tonight both men talked about the importance of determination. End of dream. People need to dream for card once said it's what carries us forward. It's what carried them. Around the world. Gillian Findlay ABC news Cairo.

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