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After the Trip: Post-Flight Comments from Jared Isaacman

 

  • 4/10/08: Final results are in: Jared and his team have set 17 world records!

  • 4/9/08: NJ Star Ledger: Millionaire pilot falls just short of world record

  • 4/7/08: NJ Star Ledger: Pilots vow to try again as world record eludes ill-starred flight

  • The final results: not a new record, but still a successful journey
    After hours of calculations, Jared's support team have determined that the total flight time was 84 hours and 5 minutes. (These are our unofficial numbers; they may change a bit when tallied by the AFI.) That means they missed the record by 1 hour and 11 minutes.

    We are so proud of Jared and his crew - record or not, this was an amazing undertaking. In addition, they have raised nearly $50,000 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation of New Jersey. Congratulations, guys!

  • 4/4/08: NJ Star Ledger: NJ pilots are due back from circling the globe

  • 4/4/08: 0100 AM: Russia would not authorize overtime for the airport workers at Anadyr, so the crew changed plans and diverted to Adak Alaska. From there they went on to Anchorage, where they will continue with their original planned route.

  • 4/3/08: As of 1540 EST the crew is back in the air!

  • 4/3/08: It may be a close race!

    A Message from Walter Garner, Director of Operations at 26 North Aviation, Inc.


    Basically we are trying to thread a needle; timing is everything. When the boys took off this morning they had a 2 hour window to make Aomori, Japan before it closed. We had to cut it close so we would make the slot in Anadyr, Russia with 30 minutes to spare before they closed.

    As of 0400 EST this morning we were 2:45 behind, due to higher than normal winds and ground delays in India and Thailand. Aomori would not agree to stay open. On to the new plans:

    The team will stay in Okinawa until 4:30am local - this will give them about 8 hours of rest.

    The Okinawa airport normally doesn't open until 8am, but they have agreed to open early, at 430am. This would put our team in Aomori at 730am local.

    Now this makes it a race!

    We had flight planned to beat the record by 10 hours. With this plan, we would be right at the old record and would now be fighting for every minute. Still in it, we were ahead of the old record by more than 13 hours when we were stopped by India on the first attempt.

    Stay tuned for details...

  • 4/2/08: The second attempt has begun! Jared's aircraft lifted off at 0720 East Coast Time with an estimated time of arrival at the first stop at 0945. Visit the track the flight page for more information.

  • 4/1/08: Entrepreneur’s World Speed Record Attempt for Charity is Delayed Midway;
    Jared Isaacman to Start Again From Qatar

  • 4/1/08: Enthusiasm fuels a second trip around the globe

  • 3/31/08: Attempt # 2 is about to begin!

    A Message from Jared


    3/31/08: I am pleased to let everyone know that the National Aeronautic Association and the FAI have granted our request for a 2nd Around the World attempt beginning and ending in Qatar. Further we already received confirmation from our handlers that with certainty the India landing permit will be available as early as tomorrow. We will spend the rest of today and tomorrow finalizing all of the details and as a team calling every single destination and confirming that the permits are available and that our trip will begin and end as planned. Obviously all of our checks and balances did not go as planned before with India. We will make sure each step along the way and especially India is checked over 10 times if necessary. We will also have to replenish our supplies and spend some time confirming the aircraft is in great shape. We flew halfway around the world with no system issues and do not expect any for the remainder of the trip.

    Our trip will follow the exact same flight plan as before with the exception of starting and ending in Qatar. On the previous flight plan we expected to depart Qatar at 0315 UTC time; however, we are pushing that forward to 0400. We were so far ahead of schedule before that we would have run in to potential delays in Japan and Russia. If we leave a little later this time we should compensate well for that.

    We are committed to coming home with this record. We won't give up.

  • 3/30/08: Jared's flight was denied a landing permit in India. As a result, the crew had to stop the record attempt in Pakistan. They have returned to Qatar, where they plan to rest for a few days and then re-attempt the record-setting flight from Qatar to Qatar. Watch this website for details!

    A Message from Jared and the crew


    3/30/08: Unfortunately we are unable to complete our trip around the world. We were making tremendous progress. We had completed 1/3 of the trip and were on track to beat the record by over 10 hours. 

     

    When we arrived in Pakistan, we were informed that our landing permit in India had been denied. This is something that we had worked out weeks in advance and had been assured multiple times from our handlers that it would be available.  We tried every resource imaginable to get this landing permit and continue on with our journey. We tried an embassy, we tried speaking to the director in charge, we offered to pay them extra fees etc. They refused to let us land. We made a point to inform them that this was a flight to raise money for charity.  In an attempt to circumvent landing in India we requested an overflight permit (which every country has granted us) so that we could land in Sri Lanka.  We were informed that if we came close to Indian airspace we would be met by fighter aircraft. 

     

    Their reason for denying the landing permit is that it is presently a holiday in India and that staff would be unavailable to fuel us.  This is odd, as India is accepting commercial airplane traffic that is fueled by the same people and trucks as our plane. Further, it's frustrating to think that they could not spare someone in ANY of their cities to fuel us, but they had plenty of manpower for their fighter jets to potentially intercept us.  I can't tell you how disappointing this has been for the team.  We have been speechless for the last 10 hours. We sat in the plane on the desert runway of Pakistan hoping for a landing permit. We had a 10 hour lead on the record and waited till the last minute hoping for a clearance that never came.

    It is not in me or that of my team to accept defeat. We are repositioning to Qatar this evening where we will immediately re-submit all the paperwork necessary for the Around The World Speed Record.  We will be starting the record attempt over in Qatar and finishing in Qatar.  We are not going to come home without this record.  Our personal motivation and the memory of our "meet and greet" with the Make-A-Wish children does not leave us with any other alternative. 

    It is a shame that India put us in such an unfortunate position, but we are not demoralized. We are highly motivated and we will not allow ourselves to forget why we are making this journey.  We are determined to be home by the end of the week having flown around the world twice and beating the record.


    More information: Record flight attempt around globe grounded in India

  • 3/29/08: We've added a new feature to the site - a virtual flight that helps you imagine what it might be like to fly along with Jared and the crew! Our simulation only takes 5 minutes but lands in every destination. View the virtual flight (high-speed users only) >>

  • 3/29/08 (12AM): The flight has taken off! Watch the tracking page for updates.

  • 3/28/08: Jared's record-setting flight was featured in several publications and announcements today!

  • 3/25/08: The Make-A-Wish Foundation of New Jersey (MAWFN) has scheduled a 2pm press conference for Friday, March 28, shortly before Jared's historic flight begins. Prior to the press conference, some of the MAWFNJ families will have a chance to meet the pilots and see the airplane. Watch this site for updates on Friday following the press conference.

  • 3/25/08: Jared and the other pilots are busy making final preparations for Friday's trip:
    Crew

  • 3/20/08: Running total of donations is now online - visit the donations page to see how we're doing!

  • 3/18/08: New Jersey Entrepreneur to Set Aerial Round-the-World Record for Charity

  • 3/18/08: United Bank Card CEO to Set World Record for Charity

  • 3/18/08: 26 North Aviation to Support The Make-A-Wish Foundation® of New Jersey through World Speed Record Attempt

 

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