text: Jonathan Trappe, a balloonist who had been attempting to cross the Atlantic Ocean but was forced to land in a remote area on Newfoundland's west coast, was picked up on Friday afternoon by a helicopter that had been chartered by CBC to conduct an aerial survey of the area. 
   
   "I've never been so glad to see the media," Trappe told CBC News videojournalist Lindsay Bird when she found him. 
   
   'I've never been so glad to see the media.'—Jonathan Trappe 
   
   Trappe left Caribou, Maine, near the New Brunswick border, on Thursday in a small boat suspended below more than 300 helium-filled balloons. 
   
   He may not have made it to his European destination, but Trappe said the journey was about more than that. 
   
   "We set out on this expedition for the adventure, and we got the adventure," Trappe said. 
   
   "The destination was always unknown, and it's pretty grand where we've come in to. It's not the destination I set out for, but it's kind of the way with real adventure — adventure isn't what you planned on, it's what you find, and that's what we have today." 
   
   Trappe said he was burning through ballast too quickly to make it across the Atlantic and was forced to choose between landing in the isolated woods Thursday night or ditching over the ocean sometime Friday. 
   
   'Hmm, this doesn't look like France' 
   
   Once he was on the ground, Trappe said, he contacted his crew via satellite message to assure them that he was safe and there was not an emergency. 
   
   "The Atlantic Ocean has been crossed many times, and in many ways, but never quite like this," Trappe said in a promotional video. 
   
   "Hmm, this doesn't look like France," Trappe wrote in a post on his Facebook page Thursday. 
   
   Shortly after, Trappe posted that he had set up an exposure canopy on his boat to settle in for the night and included a link to a satellite map showing his location. 
   
   Trappe, who had intended to become the first person to fly across the Atlantic with only the aid of cluster balloons, landed in a remote area south of the small Bay of Islands community of Lark Harbour. 
   
   Much of the area surrounding where Trappe landed is impassable. 
   
   There are no roads leading to the location, but residents had been trying to reach him on ATVs, without success. 
   
   Trappe has made a name as an adventurer using clusters of balloons, including flying in a house, much as in the Disney-Pixar animated film Up. ||||| To help personalize content, tailor and measure ads, and provide a safer experience, we use cookies. By clicking or navigating the site, you agree to allow our collection of information on and off Facebook through cookies. Learn more, including about available controls: Cookies Policy
target: – A US balloonist who was trying to cross the Atlantic Ocean using hundreds of helium-filled balloons has landed short of his goal in Newfoundland. With sense of humor intact: "This doesn't look like France," he posted on Facebook. The Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported today that it used a helicopter to retrieve Jonathan Trappe from the remote area where he landed a night earlier. "It's not the destination I set out for, but it's kind of the way with real adventure," Trappe told the CBC. "Adventure isn't what you planned on, it's what you find, and that's what we have today." Trappe landed safely in a rugged area near York Harbour after reporting that he was having trouble controlling his balloons yesterday evening, according to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Instead of using a conventional hot-air balloon, Trappe was using more than 300 colorful helium-filled balloons, like those used in the animated movie Up. He said his calculations indicated he wasn't going to make it to Europe, so he decided to set down on land before crossing over open ocean.