Steve Fossett has told his team at mission control in Kent that he was close to bailing out of his experimental aircraft as it hit extreme turbulence over India. The lightweight and fragile Virgin GlobalFlyer apparently feels its effect four times as much as a commercial jet would.

He said: "I was afraid it was going to break up. It was a scary time and I had my parachute on and I was prepared to bail out in case a wing broke."

This evening he remains above the Pacific, set to make landfall over Mexico at around 1900GMT, an hour later than expected. Latest details here.

If all goes to plan he will land at Kent international airport at Manston late on Saturday.®

Related stories

• Declare Steve Fossett dead, asks adventurer's widow (28 November 2007)
• Steve Fossett missing in Nevada (5 September 2007)
• Fossett forced into feat finale farce (13 February 2006)
• Fossett faring fine (10 February 2006)
• Fossett fuel fears (9 February 2006)
• Fossett's farewell fatalities (9 February 2006)
• Fossett finally flying (8 February 2006)
• Fossett flight foiled in Florida (7 February 2006)
• GlobalFlyer triumphs (3 March 2005)