View Full Version : Hiker possibly found missing aviator's items
The mystery surrounding Steve Fossett's disappearance may be solved soon - due to a find by a hiker.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26976119/
Wow. That may be good news for some closure for the family.
riceNbeans
10-01-2008, 14:48
I was at a function last month where Steve Fossett was honored for his work to and for the BSA. Later in the evening, I spoke with the person presenting the award to Steve's family and was told that his wife is not doing very well - at all.
Pedaling Fool
10-01-2008, 14:50
If they do find the wreckage, it will throw some egg in the face of those that claimed he faked his own death. And they deserve the egg in their face.
NICKTHEGREEK
10-01-2008, 15:28
If they do find the wreckage, it will throw some egg in the face of those that claimed he faked his own death. And they deserve the egg in their face.
Actually John they need to find his body.
If they do find the wreckage, it will throw some egg in the face of those that claimed he faked his own death. And they deserve the egg in their face.
Who claimed he faked his own death? First I've heard of this.
Pedaling Fool
10-01-2008, 15:47
Actually John they need to find his body.
True, I did say "if" and your use of the word "body" is noted.
Who claimed he faked his own death? First I've heard of this.
Just google "steve fosset faked death".
oldfivetango
10-01-2008, 15:58
For those of you who dont know-the FAA requires what's known as
an ELT-emergency locator transponder that should go off in the event
of a crash and alert authorities to the exact location of the plane.
If it was not a crash landing an astute pilot could manually turn it on.
The batteries are inspected annually and replaced regularly by law at
the time of the time of the annual inspection.If the aircraft was an
ultralight or "experimental" I am not certain if that is still the case.
I would like someone who does know those categories to speak up.
The fact that the plane was "borrowed" speaks voulmes to me as a
former pilot.I suspect he was flying junk and made a forced landing,
not a crash landing,and that the clothes and i.d. are legit and that
he died of exposure and the body was eaten by predators.
What a waste.
Oldfivetango
NICKTHEGREEK
10-01-2008, 16:19
For those of you who dont know-the FAA requires what's known as
an ELT-emergency locator transponder that should go off in the event
of a crash and alert authorities to the exact location of the plane.
If it was not a crash landing an astute pilot could manually turn it on.
The batteries are inspected annually and replaced regularly by law at
the time of the time of the annual inspection.If the aircraft was an
ultralight or "experimental" I am not certain if that is still the case.
I would like someone who does know those categories to speak up.
The fact that the plane was "borrowed" speaks voulmes to me as a
former pilot.I suspect he was flying junk and made a forced landing,
not a crash landing,and that the clothes and i.d. are legit and that
he died of exposure and the body was eaten by predators.
What a waste.
Oldfivetango
Citrabria http://blogs.forbes.com/digitalrules/2007/09/a-pilot-conside.html good pilots don't fly junk.
So only ID and misc clothes were found, no body and no wreckage? Wouldn't this give credence to the assumption he survived the crash and left on his own to try and walk out? Wouldn't there be some type of body parts or something left nearby even if predators had got to him? Interesting case, but still very sad.
My sincere condolences to his family and loved ones.
Hikerhead
10-01-2008, 17:55
I think he just gave away his retirement.
Jan LiteShoe
10-01-2008, 22:31
Here's another story:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/02/us/02fossett.html?ref=us
The search is burdened with the possibility of snow.
oldfivetango
10-02-2008, 08:06
Citrabria http://blogs.forbes.com/digitalrules/2007/09/a-pilot-conside.html good pilots don't fly junk.
The airplane he was flying was a Citabria,a production company
aircraft,therefore it was required by law to have an operable
emergency locator transmitter on board.
Apparently no signal was ever received,no signal fire was built,
no reports from a handheld radio that any pilot,especially multi-
millionaire pilots,would have had was ever heard.Sounds like the
batteries in the elt were dead,i.e.,junk.
Most of the good pilots I ever knew at least had a handheld radio and
a bic lighter.Chances are good it was a crash landing and he died
of injuries.They found money and an i.d. but no mention of a wallet?
We will likely learn in a few days about the whereabots of the wreckage
and the body.Its a shame that accidents like this still happen and my
heart goes out to the family and friends.
Oldfivetango
Gray Blazer
10-02-2008, 08:13
They may have spotted the wreckage. When the hiker gave his interview, he talked more about his hike than actually spotting the ID and 100's. Typical hiker.:sun
THis mornings news said SAR are looking in the area where the personal effects were found and there is some wreckage...Not uncommon for a cadaver in the open to get dragged around and the remains scattered somewhat by animals gnawing on bones. Then cover them with a layer of leaves...I imagine they will get into a more detailed search in the next week. At least they have seriously narrowed the area to look in down.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26976119/
Plane found. Mammoth Lakes is not far off the JMT. I resupplied there in late July.
rlharris
10-02-2008, 11:09
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26976119/
Plane found. Mammoth Lakes is not far off the JMT. I resupplied there in late July.
Also on BBC News (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7647732.stm)
CNN interviewed the local sheriff. They have confirmed the wreckage is the plane he was flying. No human remains were found. The sheriff, when asked if he could have walked away from the crash, did say that, based on the photos of the wreckage that he's seen, he didn't believe anyone could have survived the crash. He seemed to be implying that the remains may have been removed, without verbalizing how.
Montana Mac
10-02-2008, 11:50
It is amazing how difficult it is sometimes to spot downed aircraft and even more so locating bodies in rough terrain. Add to that the probable animal activity and it is surprising that some of these people are ever located.
When I was in law enforcement in Conn. I was involved in the recovery of the occupants of a downed plane. It had been the focus of an extensive air search before the plane was finally located. The plane was on the very top of a mountain and had a silver fuselage which you would have thought would have been easy to spot from the air. Not so. The locater in that plane also was non-functional.
I just finished reading The Last Season, the book about Randy Morgenson, a back country ranger that disappeared in that same area as Fosset. It was years before his remains (what was left of them) were discovered, even though there had been a massive SAR conducted. The autopsy of his remains confirmed that there had been large animal damage to the body. Some of the body parts have never been located and it is believed that the missing parts were dragged off, buried or consumed by the wildlife
In that book they also make mention of aircraft that have gone down and some that have never been found.
I thought it was interesting that, during the initial search for Fossett's plane, at least six other plane wrecks were discovered, including one that had vanished 50 years earlier. I heard an interview with the daughter of that pilot, who had grown up not knowing if her father had died in a plane wreck, or simply run off and left the family.
RITBlake
10-02-2008, 12:18
I thought it was interesting that, during the initial search for Fossett's plane, at least six other plane wrecks were discovered, including one that had vanished 50 years earlier. I heard an interview with the daughter of that pilot, who had grown up not knowing if her father had died in a plane wreck, or simply run off and left the family.
Wow I just skimmed the article and didn't see that part. That's incredible.
Wow I just skimmed the article and didn't see that part. That's incredible.
That was stuff I heard on NPR last year, when the first search for the wreck was going on.
I would have kept the money.
In case anyone is still interested, they found enough remains (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081002/ap_on_re_us/fossett_search) in the crash to at least be able to use DNA to identify it. Apparently the aircraft flew directly into the side of the mountain. That's probably why the hiker found the wallet but not the crash site itself; the effects were thrown clear of the crash.
As far as the other plane crashes go, I think they said in the same NPR interview that every time a plane crashes in that region of the country they find old plane crashes like that before they find what they're looking for. Searches just weren't very effective until fairly recently.
Latest story (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/fossett_search) says human remains have been located at the crash site.
This hiker was obviously going cross country - off trail.
This hiker was obviously going cross country - off trail.
Yeah, he was on a cross country route. Doodah Man and I almost took the route he was on, but decided to stick with the established JMT route instead.
atraildreamer
10-04-2008, 12:21
Latest story (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/fossett_search) says human remains have been located at the crash site.
The various news reports that I have heard said that the plane flew into the side of the mountain, blew up and burned, scattering debris over an area of 400 x 150 feet, with the engine landing about 200 feet from the initial point of impact. No indication of how the ID and money ended up away from the crash site. Several pieces of bone (presumably the remains of the pilot) have been recovered and are undergoing analysis. :(