Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier piloted the Montgolfier brothers’ hot air balloon on the first free flight by a human on 21st November 1783. He was accompanied by an army officer, the marquis d’Arlandes. The flight lasted 25 minutes and the two flew 900 meters above Paris for over 9 kilometres.
Rozier had also made the first tethered flight of the Montgolfier brothers’ balloon a little more than a month back on 15th October 15. Unfortunately, a couple of years later, he would become the first air casualty when flying over the English Channel on 15 June 1785.
