The balloon was launched from East Hampton, New York on September 20, 1970, piloted by Malcolm Brighton, with Rodney Anderson and Pamela Brown on board.
Brown Jr. At age 28, she and her 32-year-old husband, commodities broker Rod Anderson, hoped to break records with the first staffed balloon flight across the Atlantic.
[3] When Jim Contos, the pilot whom they had been counting on for the flight withdrew close to the time of departure, the Andersons hired Englishman Malcolm Brighton, 32, whose ascent in the Free Life was to be his 100th – and his last.
The weather was perfect; families picnicked and partied; the giant yellow, white and orange balloon, seven stories tall, was spectacular; spirits were high, and the 1,500 well-wishers seemed to share a sense of participating in something extraordinary, cheering their ascent.
When the balloon encountered a high-altitude cold front and a severe rainstorm, they were forced to ditch in the Atlantic that night, about 600 miles southeast of Newfoundland.
Finally, on August 17, 1978, three Americans - Ben Abruzzo, Maxie Anderson, and Larry Newman crossed the Atlantic by balloon, in the Double Eagle II.