An aviator today began a world first attempt to cross the Atlantic ocean dangling from a massive cluster of balloons.

Jonathan Trappe, 39, achieved lift-off at 6.20 am (11.20am GMT) in heavy fog from Caribou, Maine, in the United States and is aiming for Europe.

Like a fairytale from the Disney movie ‘Up’, Trappe will attempt to make the 2,500-mile solo from 370 balloons filled with helium.

The journey is the first of its kind and a successful crossing will see Trappe fly into the history books as the first person ever to scale the ocean in a flight of this type.

Incredibly, winds could see him land anywhere between Iceland and Morocco after a journey expected to take between three and five days.

The latest weather reports before the launch suggested winds would take Trappe to western Europe.

‘Weather is absolutely the most dangerous factor,’ said Trappe speaking immediately before launch.

Trappe already holds the record for the longest ever cluster balloon flight of 14 hours.

He became the only person to have crossed the English Channel by cluster balloon in May 2010, and the Alps in September 2011.

Previous flights have seen him travel in a simple office chair suspended by the balloons. This time he’s elected to dangle inside a small yellow life boat in case he ditches into the ocean.

‘If I touch down on water then the attempt will be over as it will be impossible to take off again, but the boat will keep me alive.

‘It will be incredibly dangerous as I could be several days away from any rescue crew and it will mean surviving rough seas for a long time, alone.’

While Trappe is the first ever to attempt an Atlantic cluster balloon crossing, five people have died trying to cross the ocean in 12 total attempts using hot-air balloons or more conventional single gas balloons.