Well, this puppy stopped hunting so here are the answers-which may surprise.
In 1897 a Swedish expedition led by Salomon Andre (a Swedish engineer) with two crew tried to reach the exact geographic (as opposed to the magnetic) North Pole position in a balloon but were taken down by structural icing 240 miles north of Danskoya, which is in the Svalbard Islands (belonging to Norway) in the Arctic Ocean. The exact downed position would be about 700+ miles short of the North Pole goal, according to my large world globe with transparent moveable "cap" statute miles scale.
As an aside, I am sure viewers were detoured from the answers as a balloon aircraft (sometimes called airships) perhaps wasn't considered. And no doubt the early date of the voyage may surprise.
Thanks to all who were puzzled.