Fossett's Wreckage Found

[ccheese]

The crash wreckage discovered in California's Sierra Nevada Mountains is in fact that of lost adventurer Steve Fossett's plane, authorities said Thursday.

Madera County Sheriff John Anderson told reporters that searchers "found enough wreckage to determine that it was in fact the aircraft" Fossett was flying solo when he disappeared last September.

"The crash looked to be so severe that I doubt if someone would have walked away from it," said Anderson during a Thursday news conference. The engine was lying about 300 feet from where the wings and the fuselage were found.

The news came after federal transportation officials from the NTSB headed to California Thursday morning to retrieve the plane debris found in a mountainous, wooded area and join the investigation.

The discovery of the decimated single-engine Bellanca came days after a local hiker stumbled upon some of Fossett's personal effects — including his pilot's license and FAA cards.

Anderson said the plane was found about a quarter-mile away from where the items turned up, and authorities had not yet determined whether the sweatshirt that was with the documents belonged to 63-year-old Fossett.
In total, about 50 searches were planned in the coming days, according to the sheriff.

"We're certainly going to do an extensive search for remains," he said.

The National Transportation Safety Board went to analyze the remnants of the small plane — discovered overnight by searchers not far from where hiker and local ski shop owner Preston Morrow came across Fossett's belongings.

The wreckage was located at about an elevation of 10,000 feet in the Sierra Nevada Mountains in the Mammoth Lakes, Calif., area, the NTSB said.

Fossett — who made international headlines with a daring round-the-world balloon trek — was flying alone when he vanished Sept. 3, 2007.

The initial aerial sighting was called in around sunset, according to Erica Stuart, spokeswoman for the Madera County Sheriff's Office.

Searchers had been combing a 10-mile radius around the spot where a hiker had found what appeared to be a pilot's license and other items belonging to Fossett in a thicket of woods not far from the Nevada state line.

Morrow told FOX News he was hiking alone with his dog near his home in Mammoth Lakes Monday afternoon when he came across what appeared to be three identification cards bearing Fossett's name and issued by the Federal Aviation Administration in Illinois.

Morrow, 43, also found $1,005 in cash. Anderson, the sheriff, said Thursday police assumed the money was Fossett's.

On Tuesday, Morrow returned to the site to get a GPS reading when he spotted a sweatshirt on top of a ridge.

Morrow then brought the items back home to his wife, a local fire captain, Mammoth Lakes Police Chief Randy Schienle told FOX News.

He then turned the items over to local police Wednesday after unsuccessful attempts to contact Fossett’s family.

Officers believe the cards are authentic, sources said.

The bills were tattered and crumpled on the ground; the weather-worn sweatshirt was nearby, Morrow told FOX. Both human and animal hair were found on the clothing.

Morrow said he didn't see any signs of Fossett's plane.

But his discovery prompted authorities to assemble a new search team to comb the area, Schienle said.

Fossett was the first person to ride the jet stream around the world in a balloon. He climbed some of the world's tallest and toughest mountains, sailed and set a number of world records.

On his last flight, he took off from a private airstrip on the Nevada ranch owned by hotel magnate Barron Hilton.

The thrill-seeker never returned, and until now, searchers had found no trace of the plane — though authorities had believed it went down in a rugged region.

Fossett was declared legally dead in February.

Fossett, who lived with his wife part-time in Beaver Creek, Colo., made a fortune trading futures and options on Chicago markets.

In August, an attorney for Fossett's widow pleaded for an end to speculation circulating on the Internet that the millionaire balloonist and pilot may have faked his own death, possibly because he was heavily in debt.


This from Fox News

Charles

[Matt308]

His body was not found? Wonder if the animals got to him or he wandered away.

[Lucky13]

[ccheese]

Originally Posted by Matt308

His body was not found? Wonder if the animals got to him or he wandered away.

According to the report, the crash was very violent. The engine was 300 feet
away from the wreckage. I doubt that he survived the crash....

"We're certainly going to do an extensive search for remains," Anderson said.

So I guess they're still looking....

Charles

[Erich]

no he did not walk away from that wreck, additional sources state he slammed nose first into a mountainside, whatever that means. wind, weather moved his belongings and parts of the wreckage all over the place.

if he hit one of the walls in the Minarets his body could be easily stuck down one of the incredibly steep chutes decomposing and it will be only the hapless climber that will come upon his bones over time

[evangilder]

Agreed, Erich. It will be lucky if they find anything.

[Gnomey]

Certainly, I agree with Eric and Erich. I doubt there will be any human remains found but it is good that the found the wreckage.

[johnbr]

They are saying that they have found some human remains and are looking for more.It is good to now that they have found the plane for closer for the family.

[Erich]

the area is NW of the Devils Postpile national monument

[seesul]

MAMMOTH LAKES, California (CNN) -- A small amount of human remains has been found in the wreckage of the plane that adventurer Steve Fossett was flying when he disappeared last year, a National Transportation Safety Board official said Thursday.
The wreckage of adventurer Steve Fossett's plane was found in California's Sierra Nevada on Thursday.

A search team that was examining the wreckage, which was found Wednesday at an altitude of about 10,000 feet in the Sierra Nevada near Mammoth Lakes, found "very little" remains among the debris, acting NTSB Chairman Mark Rosenker said.

Asked whether the remains were enough for an identification, Rosenker said, "I believe the coroner will be able to do some work."

Earlier Thursday, Madera County Sheriff John Anderson said the single-engine Bellanca appeared to have crashed into the side of a mountain in the Sierra Nevada in eastern California, and the damage was "so severe I doubt someone would've walked away from it."

Fossett was last seen the morning of September 3, 2007, when he took off from the Flying-M Ranch outside Minden, Nevada, on what he said would be a pleasure flight over the Sierra Nevada. Video Watch how searchers located the wreckage »

Investigators homed in on the area near Mammoth Lakes on Wednesday after hikers there found a sweatshirt, cash and identification cards with Fossett's name.

The hikers did not find any wreckage; an aerial search discovered the airplane parts about a quarter-mile away, Anderson said.
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Ground crews confirmed Wednesday night that the wreckage was Fossett's plane. The sheriff said authorities were not certain whether the cash and sweatshirt belonged to Fossett.

The engine was about 300 feet higher on the mountain than the fuselage and the wings, Anderson said.

An NTSB team arrived Thursday to investigate the crash. Rosenker said investigators, based on examinations of the debris, believe that the plane struck the mountain horizontally but not necessarily head-on.

It may take "weeks, perhaps months to have a better understanding of what happened on that mountain that day," he said. Video Watch NTSB say crash was "nonsurvivable" »

Fossett's disappearance prompted a search that ultimately included thousands of volunteers, hundreds of officials and dozens of aircraft poring over an area more than twice the size of New Jersey.
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The search was officially suspended a year ago Friday, and a Chicago probate court judge declared Fossett dead in February.

Fossett made his money in the financial services industry but became renowned for his daredevil exploits. He was the first person to circle the globe solo in a balloon, accomplishing the feat in 2002, and the first to fly a plane around the world solo without refueling, which he did three years later. He also set world records in round-the-world sailing and cross-country skiing.

Some remains found in Fossett plane wreckage - CNN.com

[HoHun]

Hi Ccheese,

>Fossett was the first person to ride the jet stream around the world in a balloon.

Hm, weren't Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones the first to do that? Fossett's balloon circumnavigation was the first solo trip though, if I remember correctly.

Regards,

Henning (HoHun)

[Wayne Little]

[Gnomey]

Yep, heard about the remains this morning.

[Erich]

ah one-two sources say the remains may not be human......which makes no sense really