Steve Fosset's plane wreck found

[Technologic]

1 year after he dissapeared

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/ame...647732.stm#map

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.

Click here to see a map of the area
A wide-ranging search operation conducted since then had failed to find any trace of Mr Fossett or his plane and he was legally declared dead by a court in Chicago in February.
Fuselage ****tered
Madera County Sheriff John Anderson said the wreckage had been spotted late on Wednesday during an aerial search of a stretch of the Sierra Nevada mountains near Mammoth Lakes.

SOME OF FOSSETT'S RECORDS

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



In pictures: Steve Fossett
Profile: Steve Fossett

A ground team later confirmed the identity of the plane, which seemed to have struck the mountain head-on, Mr Anderson said.
He added: "The crash looked so severe I doubt if someone would have walked away from it.
"There was no body in the plane. We have not found any human remains at the crash site.
"It's quite often if you don't find remains within a few days, because of animals, you'll find nothing at all."
Most of the fuselage had disintegrated, with engine parts scattered several hundred feet away.
Mr Anderson said there would now be an extensive search for human remains by about 50 people and five dog teams.
The National Transportation Safety Board will be responsible for examining the wreckage.
Identity documents bearing Mr Fossett's name - including a pilot's licence - as well as cash and a sweatshirt were found by hiker Preston Morrow on Monday about a quarter of a mile from the wreckage.
Mr Morrow had been returning from a mountain walk when he spotted the items in dirt and pine needles west of Mammoth Lakes.
An employee at a sporting goods store, Mr Morrow said he handed them over to police after unsuccessful attempts to contact the Fossett family.
Snow expected
The BBC's Rajesh Mirchandani, in Los Angeles, says the items were found outside the vast area searched after Mr Fossett went missing - and also in a different direction to that in which he was thought to have flown.

The documentation was found about a quarter of a mile from the wreck

Mammoth Lakes has an elevation of about 7,800ft (2,400m) and is on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada range.
Its community liaison officer, Stuart Brown, told the BBC severe weather could now hamper the ongoing investigation.
"We've got six to 12 inches of snow coming in Friday night, Saturday, with high winds - our first big storm of the season - so we'll just have to see how that affects the search," he said.
Mr Fossett took off from the ranch of hotel magnate Barron Hilton, south of Yerington, Nevada, on 3 September 2007 on a flight that was expected to last three hours.
In 2002, he became the first person to circle the globe solo in a balloon and had about 100 other world records to his name.

[xxMATTGxx]

Yeah, It is interesting as there were many rumors that he wanted to go missing and disappear.