Swiss pilots set speed record for flying around world

Three Swiss pilots made a speed record for flying around the world in a private jet covering 20,000 nautical miles over 33 countries in only 58 hours.Swiss aviator Riccardo Mortara and his crew made the record for the fastest flight around the world in a 9,000-12,000kg aircraft. Their plane, a 1980 Sabreliner 65 jet, took off from Geneva at 06:12 UTC on Friday morning, flew east, and returned Sunday at 16:06 UTC, completing the 36,770 km minimum distance in 57 hours 54 minutes. The average speed around the world was 647km/h. This is the first time a record has been set in this weight class with refueling stops, and beats pioneering pilot Steve Fossetts time of 67 hours and one minute, which was achieved without stops in the state-of-the-art VirginFlyer in 2006.