Brazilian priest missing after balloon stunt
Tuesday, 22 April 2008 19:53
A Catholic priest is missing off the coast of Brazil after floating off while strapped to hundreds of helium balloons.
Fr Adelir Antonio de Carli and up to 1,000 balloons lifted off from the port city of Paranagua on Sunday afternoon. The priest was wearing a helmet, a thermal suit and a parachute.
Rescuers in helicopters and small fishing boats have been searching off the coast of Santa Catarina state, where pieces of balloons were found.
The priest was attempting to break a 19-hour record for the most hours flying with balloons to raise money for a spiritual rest stop for truckers in Paranagua.
However Fr De Carli was reported missing about eight hours later after losing contact with port authority officials.
Video taken before the record attempt showed the smiling 41-year-old priest slipping into a flight suit, being strapped to a seat attached to a huge column of green, red, white and yellow balloons, and soaring into the air to the cheers of a crowd.
The priest soared to an altitude of 6,000m then descended to about 2,500m for his planned flight to the city of Dourados, 750km northwest of his parish.
But winds pushed him in another direction, and Father De Carli was 50km off the coast when he last contacted Paranagua's port authority.
'I need to get in touch with the ground crew so that they can teach me how to use this GPS tracking device,' he said in his final recording transmitted by local television.
It is understood the priest was an experienced skydiver.
