Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier the autumn of 1784, but the attempt was not launched until after another Frenchman, Jean-Pierre Blanchard, and American companion, Dr John Jeffries, flew across the English Channel in a hydrogen gas balloon on 7 January 1785, from England to France. Despite several attempts, De Rozier and his companion, Pierre Romain, were not able to set off from Boulogne-sur-Mer until 15 June 1785. After making some progress, a change of wind direction pushed them back to land some 5 km from their starting point. The balloon suddenly deflated (without the envelope catching fire) and crashed near Wimereux in the Pas-de-Calais, from
Jean-Pierre Blanchard as Sophie Blanchard) in 1804. On 20 February 1808 Blanchard had a heart attack while in his balloon at the Hague. He fell from his balloon and died roughly a year later (7 March 1809) from his severe injuries. His widow continued to support herself with ballooning demonstrations until it also killed her. Jean-Pierre Blanchard Jean-Pierre [François] Blanchard (4 July 1753 – 7 March 1809) was a French inventor, best known as a pioneer in balloon flight. Blanchard made his first successful balloon flight in Paris on 2 March 1784, in a hydrogen gas balloon launched from the Champ de