Fossett lucky to survive last 24 hours

Adventurer Fossett in Sydney after completing his record voyage

BIRDSVILLE, Australia (CNN) -- Tycoon adventurer Steve Fossett is back down to earth after nearly 15 days aloft -- but he very nearly didn't make it.

During an incident-packed final 24 hours, Fossett faced three life-threatening situations -- earth, wind and fire -- following his successful completion of the world's first solo balloon voyage around the world.

Fossett told a packed media conference in Sydney Thursday that things had gone wrong "nearly every day" on the epic voyage, but during the final few hours he had been "pretty scared."

Although the multi-millionaire businessman had achieved his record-breaking circumnavigation, he still had to land. But strong winds prevented this, forcing him to spend another night aloft.

It was then that things started to go really wrong.

As Fossett was sailing through the night over the vast emptiness of central Australia, a hose on one of the balloon's propane burners came loose and started a fire.

CNN NewsPass VIDEO U.S. adventurer Steve Fossett talked to reporters in Australia about his record-breaking solo balloon flight around the world (July 4) Play video   EXTRA INFORMATION • Map: Fossett's flight path  • Fossett' s "Spirit of Freedom"    RESOURCES Previous aviation records    Balloonist's background Steve Fossett holds world records in ballooning, sailing and flying airplanes. He also swam the English Channel in 1985, placed 47th in the Iditarod dog sled race in 1992 and participated in the 24 Hours of Le Mans car race in 1996. -- Source: The Associated Press

Fortunately, he was awake and instantly shut-off all the other valves to prevent the fire spreading. If he hadn't: "I wouldn't be here right now," he said.

Then, as he floated over a natural gas field, turbulence caused by burnoff flares on the ground forced him to climb from 5,000 to 8,000 feet.

He encountered further problems when it came time to land.

It was windier than everyone thought, and a system used to deflate the balloon didn't work as planned and Fossett bounced across a dry desert lake trying to get the balloon stopped.

For fifteen minutes he was dragged for about five kilometers (three miles) along the desert floor before finally coming to rest.

Fossett admitted it was the most dangerous landing he had ever experienced.

"Luckily the Outback is a pretty big place. You don't run into many powerlines," he joked.

Fossett said he was "enormously relieved" that the flight, his sixth attempt at the solo balloon milestone, was successful, and he doesn't plan any more ballooning adventures.

"This was the most important objective in ballooning that had not been accomplished," he said.

"So I fulfilled my ambition in ballooning. So I might go out and go on a hot air balloon ride and have some fun with my friends, but I actually don't plan to make any more major balloon flights."

Balloon a write-off

Fossett touched down in Australia Thursday morning.

When asked why he did it in the first place, Fossett replied that he had always wanted to achieve a "grand adventure, and to do it in a unique fashion."

By the time he touched down he had traveled more than 32, 000 kilometers (20,000 miles) since taking off from Northam, in Western Australia, on June 19.

The landing site was almost a continent away from where Fossett, 58, crossed 117 east latitude over the Southern Ocean.

The circumference of the earth is approximately 40,000 kilometers (25,000 miles).

While Fossett's balloon, the Spirit of Freedom, is a now a write-off, his capsule is bound for America's Smithsonian Museum in Washington where it will stand alongside Charles Lindberg's Spirit of St Louis plane.

And while it seemed fitting that he should complete his journey on the Fourth of July, the U.S.'s Independence Day, Fossett insists the timing is coincidental.

If the weather had been better, he would have landed a day sooner.

Next project

In March 1999, Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones became the first people to circumnavigate the globe in a balloon, but a solo balloonist had never accomplished the feat before Fossett.

Fossett has a long history of completing challenging adventures, including swimming the English Channel, piloting a dog sled in the Iditarod race in Alaska, driving in the LeMans auto endurance race in France and finishing the Ironman Triathlon in Hawaii.

In May, he and his crew of 12 broke the Trans-Mediterranean (Marseille, France to Carthage, Tunisia) sailing record, giving him nine of the 10 fastest "outright" world sailing records, plus the 24-hour record.

Fossett said he already has set another task for himself.

"My next big project is to fly a glider into the stratosphere, and we'll make the first attempts at that around the end of July," he said.

-- CNN Correspondents Jeff Flock and Hugh Williams contributed to this report.