Rio de Janeiro - Rescue teams supported by the Brazilian Navy and Air Force continued to look Wednesday for Adelir de Carli, a priest who went missing while attempting to fly with 1,000 helium- filled party balloons tied to a chair. According to the original plan, Father De Carli, 41, was to carry out a 20-hour flight Sunday from the town of Paranagua, in the state of Parana, to Dourados, in neighbouring Mato Grosso do Sul, to break a world record and "to promote religion," as he himself put it.
He was also seeking to raise money to build a chapel and to contribute to the cause of long-distance lorry drivers demanding longer breaks.
However, he went missing eight hours into his flight attempt as the wind blew him off course towards the sea.
On Tuesday, rescue teams at sea found the balloons the Roman Catholic priest had been using and fragments of what may have been his chair some 50 kilometres from the seaside resort of Florianopolis, in the state of Santa Catarina.
The authorities fear he may have fallen into the sea and been dragged south, Santa Catarina militarized police captain Nelson Coelho said Wednesday.
"The chances that he is alive are fewer now, but there are still some. It depends on his physical and psychological condition," Coelho said.
The authorities broadened the scope of the search by 100 kilometres Wednesday, hoping to find De Carli at sea or on an island in the states of Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul.
Hopes to find him alive were based mainly on the water temperature in the area, which has been constant at 20 degrees Celsius since Sunday.
A helicopter, four boats and one military aeroplane, as wells as scores of fishermen, were supporting police and civil defence teams in the search. De Carli was carrying two mobile phones and one global positioning system (GPS) unit when he went missing.
On January 13, the priest made a successful attempt to fly supported by balloons, travelling 110 kilometres from Ampere, in Parana, to the Argentine town of San Antonio, in a four-hour flight. He used 500 balloons and reached an altitude of 5.3 metres
His friends do not regards De Carli as a "crazy priest," but as an experienced flier and parachutist, who has completed several survival courses.
He last made contact with authorities Sunday evening.
"I have to talk to someone who can explain me how the GPS system works, it is the only way I can tell people down there about my exact situation," he said.
Experts think he has been in the water at least since Monday.
