Wreck confirmed as Fossett plane

[youwanttoshagme]

BBC news link

The wreckage of a plane found near the town of Mammoth Lakes in California does belong to missing US adventurer Steve Fossett, officials say.

A number plate confirmed the plane as the Bellanca Super Decathlon owned by the 63-year-old millionaire. No body has yet been found.

The search began after a hiker found items thought to belong to Mr Fossett.

He vanished in September last year on a solo flight that took off 90 miles (145km) away in neighbouring Nevada.

I'm sure there are a million different sites running the same story, but hope they manage to recover the body and return it to his family. He was an inspirational man in terms of his exploration and business success.

 

[Facetious]

Excellent post. This has been a mystery for some time !

 

[AFA]

Really lived on the edge, literally, with Branson in those high altitude balloons.

-1998/2002: Long-distance for solo ballooning
-2001/2002: Duration for solo ballooning
-2002: First solo round-the-world balloon flight
-First balloon crossings of Asia, Africa, Europe, South America, South Atlantic, South Pacific, Indian Oceans
-Seven fastest speed sailing titles
-13 World Sailing Speed Record Council titles
-2001: Fastest transatlantic sailing
-2004: Fastest round-the-world sailing
-Round-the-world titles for medium airplanes
-US transcontinental titles for non-military aircraft

 

[bombardier52]

I just read that they did find body parts in the wreckage. Happy trails Steve.

 

[PlasmaTwa2]

Well, it's not like we didn't know this was coming. :dunno:

It's tragic, I suppose, but it's not really news. I'm more amazed that it took it this long to find the wreckage, especially if it was near a town.

 

[Facetious]

^ The terrain surrounding the crash site is rocky - rugged, greater than 10,000 ft. in altitude and snow covered year round. As I recall, most of the Fossett search & rescue ops had been focused on the floor of the Nevada high desert as opposed to high mountainous region of central Calif.

I am anxiously awaiting to see what might be discovered in the crash investigation.

 

[youwanttoshagme]

His plane was in the opposite direction to his intended destination, and with the terrain, it's not surprising that his plane wasn't found. I've been on enough S&R missions in the past to know that an object (even a sizable one) in a forest is still very difficult to find, unless it's on fire.

News this morning mentioned DNA test to make sure that the bone fragments they have recovered are of Fossett.

In terms of not really being new, I think it is. In a world where every part of the globe can be spotted from a satellite, and where autonomous exploration has replaced man, Fossett is one of the last explorers we'll ever see. In another hundred years, explorers will be a rare or extinct breed