A Roman Catholic priest who used 1,000 helium balloons to try to break a flying record has gone missing off the southern coast of Brazil.

Rev Adelir de Carli lifted off from the port city of Paranagua on Sunday, equipped with a parachute, thermal suit, satellite phone and a GPS device.

A sea and air rescue operation is under way after he lost contact with port authority officials late on Sunday.

He wanted to break a 19-hour record for the most hours flying with balloons.

As well as his GPS and satellite phone, Rev Carli was equipped with a buoyant chair. He is also an experienced skydiver.

In a phone interview with Brazilian TV channel Globo on Sunday, he said he was having difficulty operating his GPS device, and was "very cold, but fine".

He was said to have reached an altitude of 20,000ft (6,000m), then descended to about 8,200ft (2,500m) for his planned flight to the city of Dourados.

But he was blown off course by winds and when last contacted was floating several miles off the coast.

Before losing contact, he said he had to land in the sea as he was "losing weight".

Search efforts

Planes and helicopters of the Brazilian air force as well as boats of the Brazilian navy are searching off the coast of Santa Catarina state, where pieces of balloons were found on a beach.

"We are absolutely confident he will be found alive and well, floating somewhere in the ocean," parish treasurer Denise Gallas told the Associated Press.

"He knew what he was doing and was fully prepared for any kind of mishap."

In January, the priest used the same mode of transport to fly over 110km (70 miles) in four hours between Parana and the nearby Argentinean city of San Antonio.

(BBC)

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