Steve Fosset missing

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

Originally Posted by mkloby

It's not required for VFR flight - but it's definitely good practice. In the USMC/USN, we're required to file flight plans for all flights. It normally takes no more than 5 minutes to fill out the flight plan and call it into an FSS. Hell, you can even call when airborne to file and open the flight plan.

Same in the Army. And as you said you can even file and open over the radio if it is really needed.

[FLYBOYJ]

If I'm flying in populated area I never file a flight plan unless I'm IFR but I keep 121.5 tuned in one of the radios. In the mountains (where I rarely go) or on long cross countries over desolate areas I l aways file and even go IFR...

[Soundbreaker Welch?]

He's a daring man.


It would be too bad if he goes down like a lot of famous people.

[Hollywood]

Richard Branson said Steve has one of those Brietling(SP) watches with an ELT inside that is manually activated. I wonder if he was wearing it.........

[Gnomey]

You would think he would be wearing it. It is a shame it has been a terrible year for aviation (particularly in the States). Richard Branson was quoted as saying something along the lines of "if anyone could get the aircraft down it would be Steve". I hope he is alright and that he is found soon.

[timshatz]

Not looking good. Two days and nothing. Not good.

[johnbr]

Yes not looking good at all.

[Matt308]

And he had a watch that had a 406MHz ELT built in. But you had to pull out the antenna to activate it. Perhaps my pessimism, but

[Soundbreaker Welch?]

Oh no.

[evangilder]

Anyone with a computer can assist in the search using satellite imagery:

AVwebFlash Complete Issue

[drgondog]

Originally Posted by timshatz

Yeah, that is odd. Those things go off from changes in air pressure.

He's down, that's pretty much certain. But where and in what condition is the question. Hope he's still alive.

My first reaction is he went down in water..

[Erich]

Bill but where ? a high Sierra lake..........it is a possibility, not sure what is stuck up in the arrid backcountry of the Nevada white mtns

[timshatz]

I keep hearing they are finding other crashes but not him. Heard 6 last Friday and the number is higher now.

[ccheese]

MINDEN, Nev. — The search for missing aviator Steve Fossett has generated Internet tips and volunteer pilots, though whether the extra aid is helping or hurting the rescue effort is still an open question.

Driven by Google search technology that enables couch potatoes to view from their computers high-resolution photographs of the rugged Nevada landscape where Fossett went missing, thousands of amateur volunteers are trying to help the hundreds of official searchers.

"This is kind of a new thing for us," said Civil Air Patrol Maj. Cynthia Ryan, who said every Google-generated tip is reviewed and the best ones passed on to pilots. So far, there have been several false sightings of Fossett's airplane.

A private search effort also is being driven in part by hotel magnate Barron Hilton, who has opened the mile-long airstrip at his Flying M Ranch to search planes and helicopters. Fossett took off from the ranch's runway more than a week ago.

While the private effort has worked side by side with the government during the eight-day hunt, officials said they are becoming worried that the latest call for volunteers could bring in people who are unfamiliar with the vast and often dangerous landscape.

"It has not been condoned, nor is it necessarily helpful to the law enforcement community," Lyon County Undersheriff Joe Sanford said Sunday. "We don't want searchers to have to go out to look for searchers."

On Monday, Sanford explained he was most concerned with the possibility that untrained searchers would begin conducting independent ground searches in the rugged, sparsely populated areas where Fossett is believed to be lost.

Sanford said a lack of oversight sometimes leads to the official search effort covering ground already searched by the private effort. He said the private effort was still welcome, but noted that it is "impossible to track."

On Fossett's Internet site, a link is offered to the satellite image analysis project, and search coordinator Mark Marshall has asked for help from pilots trained in search and rescue.

"You will need to make your own way to the ranch. Accommodation is now tight, so you will need a tent and sleeping bag — and a commitment to stay for some time if necessary," the site says.

Officials also expressed concern that participants in the National Championship Air Races and Air Show in nearby Reno starting Wednesday could hamper the search effort. They pleaded with race participants and other pilots attending the event to stay away from the search area.

The 63-year-old Fossett, a former commodities trader who was the first to circle the globe in a balloon, was last heard from Sept. 3. Authorities believe he was carrying only one bottle of water, but he is considered an expert pilot and survivalist.

"I am confident in his ability to survive this," Ryan said.

The search will continue indefinitely, she said, adding that the effort will stop when searchers have "exhausted every square inch, and we aren't even close to that."

Fossett's wife, Peggy, praised the joint effort, calling it "an incredible collaboration." In a statement, she said, "Our hopes are high and I am confident of a successful resolution to this search.

"I am indebted to the numerous friends who have come from around the world to serve as pilots, spotters and ground crew and who are giving genuine moral support during this difficult time."

Hilton has declined to comment to The Associated Press, and pilots and ground crew at the ranch also declined to talk to a reporter who visited.

Since Saturday, two government helicopters have been based at Hilton's ranch, authorities said. The airstrip is about 80 miles southeast of Reno.

Once used to entertain high-rolling gamblers from Hilton casinos in Las Vegas, the Flying M Ranch has become a coveted getaway for aviators and astronauts. To get there by road, one must take a 26-mile journey over a dirt road that offers a view of mile after mile of sagebrush, rocks and sand.

This is the latest from Fox News.....

Charles

[Erich]

interesting as well as relatives of the missing are asking local flyers from south Oregon to come down and participate due to the bungle of the Oriental couple from San Francisco this past winter and the long and drawn out work to rescue the familie from my part of the woods ............ guess we have some experience as we were on at least 3 missings this past winter