Two pilots in a helium-filled balloon have landed safely off the coast of Mexico after a nearly 7,000-mile long trip across the Pacific Ocean.

Troy Bradley, of Albuquerque, and Leonid Tiukhtyaev, of Russia, landed off Baja California, about 300 miles north of Cabo San Lucas, on Saturday and were greeted by a team of balloon enthusiasts who assisted with the landing.

The pair came in low and dropped thick trailing ropes into the ocean to help slow the balloon before setting down in a controlled water landing.

Their trip shattered two long-standing records for ballooning.

They beat what is considered the "holy grail" of ballooning achievements, the 137-hour duration record in the first balloon flight across the Atlantic.

They also easily exceeded the distance record of 5,209 miles set during the first trans-Pacific flight in 1981.