50 hot air balloons cross channel together

LONDON, April 8 (UPI) -- Retired English police officer Ian Sharpe and fellow balloonists crossed the English Channel in a fleet of 50 hot air balloons, trying for a world record.

The mass flight Thursday was believed to have set a record for the most balloons to successfully make the trip from the south coast of England to France, the Croydon Guardian reported. The Guinness Book of World Records had not confirmed the feat.

Sharpe, who lives in Caterham, a Surrey suburb south of London, said he spent 14 months organizing the event. One balloon had to drop out because of technical problems but 50 made it across.

"We have opened several bottles of Champagne in celebration and we are pleased to have made it. It's a great feeling," Sharpe told the newspaper, speaking from a field near the French port of Calais.

The BBC said balloon crews from Germany and Italy traveled to England for the flight.

Andrew Holly, a pilot with Exclusive Ballooning in Berkeley, Gloucestershire, said his balloon took about 3 hours between takeoff and landing.

"We've taken balloons to Buckingham Palace, underneath Tower Bridge and over the Alps, but this really is going to be right up there with the very best I'll ever remember," he told the BBC.