First Explorers By Air

In 1897, three Swedes set off from Spitsbergen, an island in the Arctic Ocean, to fly a balloon to the North Pole. They were never seen again. The explorers had hoped to control the balloon’s course by keeping low and dragging trail ropes along the ground, which would reduce their speed to less than that of the wind. Sails could then be used to steer. But soon after the balloon was launched, it almost came down into the sea, and part of the trail ropes and a quantity of sand ballast were lost. Relieved of the weight, the balloon disappeared into the  clouds. The full story emerged only in 1930 when some of the expedition’s remains were found by sealers. What seems to have happened is that the balloon became so coated with ice that it was forced down well short of the Pole. The marooned explorers spent nearly two months struggling to get back over the moving ice, but finally died on White Island - only a few kilometres from the spot where they had taken off.