Steve Fossett reported Missing - CNN

[gasper]

Pilot and balloon adventure guy, Steve Fossett is reportedly missing after departing in his single-engine aircraft. He reportedly took off Sept. 03 at noon, from a Nevada (private ranch airport) in his Decathalon with over 4 hrs fuel.

An air search is in progress.

His associate Richard Branson, struck a more cautious tone Wednesday, saying he was "obviously worried" that Fossett may be injured because he was wearing a watch capable of emitting an emergency distress signal. If Fossett were OK, Branson surmised, he would have been able to activate the manually operated signal.

However, he added, "If anyone's going to end up walking back up [to] the ranch and apologizing for pranging the Hiltons' plane, it's likely to be Steve Fossett."


http://edition.cnn.com/2007/US/09/04/fo ... index.html

[bawlsdeep]

They should have a look in the Black Rock desert, he's probably hiding out at Burningman, seems like the adventurous type!!

[sidestick stirrer]

All the radio stations are reporting that he did not file a flight plan, so that must be why he's missing-obviously-to John Q. Public.....

[Greg87]

I hope he's ok, he is someone that is needed in the aviation industry, someone who will push the limits and pursue the frontiers of aviation.

[I_Drive_Planes]

Yet another example of why you should ALWAYS file a flightplan!

Planes

[2R]

Out of Vegas last seen heading towards Roswell ???
Alien abduction ???
Did he stray into R-934 Area -51 enroute ???
Start worrying when they talk about weather balloons

[I_Drive_Planes]

Speaking of Roswell

[wasYKnowFJ]

When he gets back, he should brush-up on his long distance cross-country skills.

[Widow]

Six wrecks found, but none are Fossett's
TOM GARDNER

Associated Press

September 8, 2007 at 12:13 PM EDT

MINDEN, Nev. — In their quest to find missing aviator Steve Fossett, searchers have come across uncharted plane crashes six times. But none of the wrecks shed light on what may have happened to the multimillionaire.

Hopes that a wrecked plane spotted on the side of a hill might be Mr. Fossett's were dashed quickly Friday when ground crews learned the plane last was registered more than three decades ago in Oregon.

As the search for Mr. Fossett stretched into its fifth full day Saturday, weary rescuers were no closer to understanding where he was flying or where his small plane might have gone down.

The day provided seemingly ideal flying conditions for what was expected to be an expanded aerial effort, with Civil Air Patrol volunteers arriving from throughout the West. Winds were light, although a slight haze, most likely from wildfires burning in Northern California, had drifted over search-and-rescue headquarters at the Minden Airport.

Searchers tried to glean any positive news they could from the old crashes they discovered from an otherwise discouraging week.

“This does give us hope. We are finding a lot of stuff we didn't know was there,” Civil Air Patrol Major Cynthia Ryan said.

She said Nevada has a registry of known crash sites but estimated that some 150 wrecks of small aircraft over the past 50 years are uncharted.

Crews are marking the crash sites discovered during the Fossett search and will return later to examine them in detail. No human remains have been found, which is no surprise in a region where coyotes and mountain lions are prevalent.

Globe&Mail

[Alex YCV]

For those of you who might be interested to help out (even though it may be entirely futile), there is a search system setup on http://www.mturk.com/mturk/welcome - the amazon mechanical turk system. Basically, they give you images of an 85m x 856m sat photo and ask you to check to see if there are any "foreign objects" such as plane or plane debris on that square.

There are approximately 50,000 of these squares to check. The sat data is provided via the google map system, and is entirely up to date (freshened since the plane was lost). It may not work, but I would like to think that my friends would work so hard to find me.

So if you have a few minutes, it really doesn't take long, come on over and check some squares... if everyone chips in, the 50k will get covered quickly.

[Big Pratt]

Interesting update (if it's not a sick hoax).

http://africa.reuters.com/world/news/usnTRE490772.html

Hikers find Steve Fossett belongings
Wed 1 Oct 2008, 17:56 GMT

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Hikers in northern California have found clothing and personal items belonging to millionaire adventurer Steve Fossett, who went missing a year ago, police said on Wednesday.

"Three different forms of (Fossett's) I.D. were found," Mammoth Lakes Police spokeswoman Renee Placensia told Reuters.

She said no other details were immediately available but authorities were forming air and ground search crews.

Mammoth Lakes Police Chief Randy Schienle told CNN that a sweatshirt and other identification had been found by hikers in the area.

Fossett, 63, vanished in his airplane after taking off in the Nevada desert in September 2007. Despite weeks of extensive land and air searches, no wreckage was found and he was declared legally dead in February 2008 after investigators concluded that his airplane was destroyed in a fatal accident.

Mammoth Lakes is near the border with Nevada and Schienle said that snow and animals may have dispersed or covered the belongings until now.

Fossett held several aviation and sailing records, becoming the first person to fly a balloon solo around the world in 2002.

He disappeared after setting off from western Nevada on September 3 in a single-engine plane for what friends said was a casual pleasure flight.

(Reporting by Jim Christie, Editing by Sandra Maler)

[Big Pratt]

http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/ ... 02?sp=true

Rescue crews find wreckage of Fossett's plane
Thu Oct 2, 2008 8:35am EDT

Rescue crews have found the wreckage of a small plane in eastern California mountains that appears to be the one piloted by millionaire adventurer Steve Fossett, the National Transportation Safety Board said on Thursday.

The NTSB said the small airplane found on Wednesday "appears to be the aircraft piloted by Steve Fossett."

The safety board did not say anything in a statement about finding any remains of Fossett's body.

Fossett, 63, vanished in his single-engine Bellanca airplane after taking off from a private airstrip in Nevada in September 2007.

The wreckage was located about 10,000 feet up the Sierra Nevada Mountains in the vicinity of Mammoth Lakes, California. The NTSB said it has sent an investigator to the accident site.

The fact that safety board officials were dispatched to the scene and would comment publicly on the plane indicates a strong likelihood that it was Fossett's.

Despite weeks of extensive land and air searches after Fossett disappeared, no wreckage was found, and he was declared legally dead in February after investigators concluded that his airplane was destroyed in a fatal accident.

But a hiker in a remote area of California this week found two of his aviation identification cards.

The cards and a sweatshirt were found in a remote part of Madera County in the eastern Sierras between Yosemite National Park and the Nevada border.

Police in California said on Wednesday that more than 30 search teams were being formed to comb the mountainous area for the wreckage in coming days ahead of a potential snowfall.

(Reporting by John Crawley, writing by Deborah Charles, editing by Philip Barbara)

[Stevo226]

Good thing they have those slick driver license-type licenses in the States. If he had a Canadian License it would either be ash or blown away in the wind. Oh well, at least we have extra kindling

[C23flyer]

They've found the wreckage according to a report I just read, but they're saying it raises more questions. The plane apparently crashed into the side of a mountain in VFR conditions, nowhere near where Fossett said he was planning to go. Miss Marple?

[KnownIce]

http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/ ... G820081002

[canuckcam]

It's confirmed to be Steve Fossett's plane. A hiker found his licenses, ID and cash:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c ... 13A99B.DTL

[Rubberbiscuit]

Hopefully this will bring some closure for family and friends.....

[robbreid]

Aircraft was found 'with human remains through-out the crash site', located outside the original search area. It is very fortunate that the Hiker Mr. Morrow turned over the ID and cash, or this mystery may have survived my lifetime!!!



James Stephen Fossett - Adventurer
April 22 1944 - September 3 2007

Truly a life lived . . .

[robbreid]

Lots of Photos and story.

[Widow]

Encounter With Downdrafts Caused 2007 Plane Crash Involving Steve Fossett
Posted: July 9th, 2009 04:02 PM GMT-05:00


NTSB

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The National Transportation Safety Board has released its final report on the aviation accident that claimed the life of Steve Fossett.

The Board determined that the aircraft, a Bellanca 8KCAB-180 (N240R) struck mountainous terrain near Mammoth Lakes, CA, following an inadvertent encounter with downdrafts that exceeded the climb capability of the airplane. Contributing to the accident were the downdrafts, high density altitude, and mountainous terrain.

On Sept. 3, 2007, Fossett, the only person aboard, departed Flying M Ranch, a private airport near Yerington, NV, on a local, personal flight and failed to return. A month-long search by the Civil Air Patrol, state and county authorities, and friends of the accident pilot failed to locate the aircraft. On Oct. 7, 2008, a hiker found some of the pilot's personal effects.

"Once these items were found, the Safety Board launched a team to conduct the on-scene phase of the investigation," says NTSB Acting Chairman Mark V. Rosenker. An aerial search located the airplane wreckage about 0.5 miles from the pilot's personal effects, at an elevation of approximately 10,000 feet.

On the day of the accident, no emergency radio transmissions were received from the pilot, nor were any emergency locator transmitter signals received. After the wreckage was discovered, a review of radar data from September 2007 revealed a track that ended about 1 mile northwest of the accident site.

The Board's report, including the probable cause, is available on the NTSB's website by clicking here.

http://www.amtonline.com/article/articl ... =1&id=8745

[. ._]

Thanks for the update, widow.

It just goes to show ya that no matter what kind of a hot-shit pilot you think you are, you can still get killed in a little bug-smasher.

Every time you fly, remind yourself- IT'S NOT A CAR. Don't get complacent. Fly safely. Have fun.

My unskilled $0.02.

-istp

[canwhitewolf]

having spent hundreds of hours on evaluation and assessing that search at the time the truth is they really dont know what happened

even a mixture problem at that altitude could have brought the plane down, dirt in the fuel system, a power problem, just about anything, that plane has to be leaned out to start and fly properly at those altitudes

there was no turbulence reported, beautiful day and calm winds esentially for that area of nevada

A cowboy south of the FLying M ( at nine mile ranch) stated he saw Steves plane fly by the ranch 2x, once early morning and once later on, and that statement scattered everyones information as to where he could be, and that is why there was such a concentration of search near and around 9 mile ranch and the surrounding area

a cop stated he saw steves plane around mammoth lakes...that was not paid enough attention to either,

quite a mess, and it seems i was way off from where i thought he could be as well

a hard case

Fate is the hunter

[Widow]

On that note, canwhitewolf, I was "surprised to learn"

a review of radar data from September 2007 revealed a track that ended about 1 mile northwest of the accident site.

Would the radar data not have been reviewed at the time the a/c went missing, and used as a starting point for the search?

[SAR_YQQ]

Would the radar data not have been reviewed at the time the a/c went missing, and used as a starting point for the search?

That's how we do it up here Widow. Especially with no real LKP to go on.

[canwhitewolf]

On that note, canwhitewolf, I was "surprised to learn"

a review of radar data from September 2007 revealed a track that ended about 1 mile northwest of the accident site.

Would the radar data not have been reviewed at the time the a/c went missing, and used as a starting point for the search?

*****************************************************************

you would think so wouldnt you. but it wasnt used too much,

the distance from the radar to that point is significant i believe and radar is line of sight, in mountainous terrain one would have to be quite high to have ident or a radar paint, some said as high as 14000 ft
there was a radar blip that was seen and reviewed but there was no way of knowing who it was of course unless there was verbal communciation and transponder was used to identify by squaking ident, , the transponder may have even been off, or at best squaking 1200, so it was speculation i suspect, I believe there was another plane in that area at the time as well if i remeber, as they spoke to them about weather and winds etc after

there was also a camper who saw a plane like steves around the mammoth area but that was somewhat ignored as well

even though apparently there was discussion that morning at breakfast and maybe at the airfield of steves intentions as to where he might go, it seemed that all that info was laid aside a bit once they talked with the cowboy at nine mile ranch, they then concentrated the search around that area and saturated it with planes helos and gps tracks and 4 wheelers and jeeps etc, some search aircraft did go around the mammoth lakes area though I heard

the search people down there are good, they found survivor man easily

they got led astray in my view from too much iatrogenic input

just too much input