Steve Fossett Missing

[Nehkara]

Search Underway For Steve Fossett

The 63-year-old who was the first person to solo around the world in a balloon, took off Monday at about 9 a.m. (noon ET) in good weather and had planned to return at noon, a CAP statement said.

The search for Fossett began about six hours later. Ryan said authorities are searching hundreds of miles of rugged terrain in western Nevada. They also are analyzing information from radar intelligence to try to track Fossett.

He was flying in a single-engine, Citabria Super Decathlon -- a plane capable of aerobatics -- with tail number N240R, according to CAP. Fossett, though, had no parachute, which is required for aerobatics.

Fossett holds the record for the first solo, non-stop, non-refueled airplane trip around the world, set in the Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer in 2005.

A year later he used GlobalFlyer again to break the world's flight distance record, traveling more than 26,000 miles in 76 hours.

In 2002, he achieved the first solo balloon flight around the world, traveling 20,626 miles in 14 days.

He's credited with 115 world records or world firsts, and holds official world records in five sports, according to his Web site.

Asked how long he'll keep going, Fossett answered, "I imagine that when I'm 80 years old and sitting in a wheelchair that I might do something like take a remote control airplane and try and fly it around the world. I plan to be setting and breaking records indefinitely."

Amazing man... I really hope he is alright and that he is found soon.

[Ozy_Flame]

Hope he's OK, although somewhere right now, George Carlin is having a field day.

[Nehkara]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

Hope he's OK, although somewhere right now, George Carlin is having a field day.

Why?

[Ozy_Flame]

Part of his schtick was lamblasting rich idiots who fly around the world in balloons, and wishing their balloons would pop and they'd fly around in little fart circles all the way to the ground...

It's in pretty bad taste, but this was long before Fossett went missing.

[Nehkara]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

Part of his schtick was lamblasting rich idiots who fly around the world in balloons, and wishing their balloons would pop and they'd fly around in little fart circles all the way to the ground...

It's in pretty bad taste, but this was long before Fossett went missing.

Thanks, I was just wondering... I've never heard that part of Carlin's act.

[icarus]

Probably got too close to Area 51

[Nehkara]

Well, since the locator beacon (which activates upon hard impact) has not gone off, there is a lot of hope of finding him alive. The issue is finding him... there is a lot of terrain to cover in the search.

[TimSJ]

neat guy. I have followed him a bit ever since he crashed one of his balloons here just outside of Saint John on one of his around the world attempts. Hope they find him

[North East Goon]

Maybe just me, but I would never step foot in one of those hot air balloons. They scare the crap out of me!

[Jayems]

Originally Posted by North East Goon

Maybe just me, but I would never step foot in one of those hot air balloons. They scare the crap out of me!

Actually, it looks like quite a lot of fun...

[MarchHare]

Originally Posted by Nehkara

Well, since the locator beacon (which activates upon hard impact) has not gone off, there is a lot of hope of finding him alive. The issue is finding him... there is a lot of terrain to cover in the search.

Yes, the locator beacon automatically activates itself on a hard impact, but it can also be activated manually by the pilot. Indeed, this is part of the standard procedure when executing a forced emergency landing.

If the beacon didn't automatically activate, it's a fair bet that he landed smoothly. If he forgot to manually activate the beacon while descending, surely it would be one of the first things he did after touching down.

What I find really odd is that he didn't file a flight plan. Maybe he was flying out to the desert and landed at his secret evil lair?

[Nehkara]

Originally Posted by MarchHare

Yes, the locator beacon automatically activates itself on a hard impact, but it can also be activated manually by the pilot. Indeed, this is part of the standard procedure when executing a forced emergency landing.

If the beacon didn't automatically activate, it's a fair bet that he landed smoothly. If he forgot to manually activate the beacon while descending, surely it would be one of the first things he did after touching down.

What I find really odd is that he didn't file a flight plan. Maybe he was flying out to the desert and landed at his secret evil lair?

As mentioned in the article, it is not required when using visual navigation during a flight.

[MarchHare]

As mentioned in the article, it is not required when using visual navigation during a flight.

Sure it's not required, but it's one of those "best practices" that should always be done anyway. When I was doing my student pilot training, we always filed flight plans for any cross-country flight, even if it was using visual navigation during a day with clear weather. You never know what can happen...

[Nehkara]

They have expanded the search area to 10,000 square miles. No sign of him yet.

[Dion]

Originally Posted by Nehkara

They have expanded the search area to 10,000 square miles. No sign of him yet.

Not good. Now if there's anyone that can come out of this alive, it's Fossett. Heard he has excellent survival training skills

[Nehkara]

Originally Posted by Dion

Not good. Now if there's anyone that can come out of this alive, it's Fossett. Heard he has excellent survival training skills

He has fantastic survival skills but I hope they find him soon. I think the only way there is a happy ending to this is if he either had a soft crash landing or managed to actually land his plane somewhere.

[greyshep]

Well if this lady can survive in the wilderness for 2 weeks, that certainly provides hope that Fossett can be found alive still...

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/09/07/ore...cue/index.html

[Bagor]

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/10/01/fos...ery/index.html

Missing adventurer's items found

Hikers in California found items belonging to missing millionaire adventurer Steve Fossett, officials said Wednesday
A weathered sweat shirt, cash and a pilot license with Fossett's name were found Tuesday near Mammoth Lakes, police Chief Randy Schienle said. The license did not have a photo, he said.

"We're not certain that it belongs to Steve Fossett, but it certainly has his name on the ID," Schienle said.

Strange. Pretty close to civilisation. Mind you, no wreckage yet.

http://maps.google.ca/maps?hl=en&q=M...num=1&ct=image

[Russic]

If there's no wreckage yet could you assume that he made it out of the plane alive? I'm just assuming as they seemed to have found the items all together.

[flamesfan6]

cnn breaking news:

Search teams looking for millionaire adventurer Steve Fossett find wreckage, California authorities say. Details to come.