Jubilation in England

Steve Fossett and his friend (and chief funder) Richard Branson had a celebratory reunion on the runway in Bournemouth, where Fossett made an emergency landing today.

Fossett had to come down early because of a generator problem that led to the loss of electrical power. The short runway gave him trouble too because the tires on the aircraft were not intended to deal with the kind of fast-braking necessary to make landing at Bournemouth safe. Two of the tires blew out.

The aircraft looks, from AP pictures, to be in decent condition considering. It doesn't appear to have suffered any damage. That's good news for the folks at the Smithsonian too. The National Air & Space Museum badly wants that plane on display.