It now looks as if mysteriously losing 2,600lbs of fuel won't stop Steve Fossett from completing his around the world challenge. Yet another press conference at 10pm local time (I am beginning to suffer the effects of press conference fatigue) confirmed what those of us in the media had already figured out from looking at the continuously updated map here in the press lounge - that Steve did not need to abort the mission by landing in Hawaii but was heading for the west coast of the US and back to his starting point.
He is by no means high and dry, if you excuse the pun, but the best estimates are that, notwithstanding another major hitch, GlobalFlyer will land around lunchtime tomorrow (Thursday) in Salina, Kansas.
Another update to the story is on the way which will provide full details. In the meantime, check out the rest of our GlobalFlyer coverage on our special report.
