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Steve Fossett Missing

sanford said:
I'd say you or I might not make it an entire week in the wild, but Fossett might, if he was carrying at least some water or located a nearby clean water source. But I still think he died of injuries sustained in the crash.

As for McPherson, similar but different, you know how many people who died in WTC 9/11 or Katrina who are living somewhere in the world under an assumed name? At least a few. Every large multi-fatality, missing-body disaster at least couple people use it as an opportunity to drop out, run away and start over.
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I know Fossett has a reputation for being an unusually resourceful person, but there was no reason for him to carry water or food for a local flight, and if he'd walked out to any visible location he'd have made an effort to be found. Still the idea of him being killed in such a routine local flight is mind-boggling to me. If that turns out to be the result, it will go down in history as one of the great ironic deaths, like Gen. George Patton being killed in a traffic accident.

If he's not found soon, dead or alive, I'm going to continue to wonder if he pulled a Sister Aimee.
 
IJ Reilly said:
Still the idea of him being killed in such a routine local flight is mind-boggling to me. If that turns out to be the result, it will go down in history as one of the great ironic deaths, like Gen. George Patton being killed in a traffic accident.
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Or Steve Irwin being killed by something OTHER than a crocodile (specifically, a stingray, and not the one with the bowtie).
 
Counterfit said:
Or Steve Irwin being killed by something OTHER than a crocodile (specifically, a stingray, and not the one with the bowtie).
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Steve Irwin, great guy! But this picture has to be shown:

1157370542stingray.jpg

I know its a bit off topic but what the hell!
 
What a shame. I am intrigued by Howard Hughes and Steve Fossett and Richard Branson remind me of him. Although it may be considered selfish, I cheer for the rich folk that spend their money on cool exploits and record-breaking stunts.:D
 
MacHipster said:
What a shame. I am intrigued by Howard Hughes and Steve Fossett and Richard Branson remind me of him. Although it may be considered selfish, I cheer for the rich folk that spend their money on cool exploits and record-breaking stunts.:D
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Yeah, just like the space race, the stuff they develop in the course of these feats will probably make it to some sort of consumer product (or something else the average person comes into contact with) eventually.
 
IJ Reilly said:
I know Fossett has a reputation for being an unusually resourceful person, but there was no reason for him to carry water or food for a local flight, and if he'd walked out to any visible location he'd have made an effort to be found. Still the idea of him being killed in such a routine local flight is mind-boggling to me. If that turns out to be the result, it will go down in history as one of the great ironic deaths, like Gen. George Patton being killed in a traffic accident.

If he's not found soon, dead or alive, I'm going to continue to wonder if he pulled a Sister Aimee.
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IJ- the weird thing about aviation in any of its forms is this- the most experienced people can die doing relatively simple tasks. That's because anything involving aviation is pretty complex already. People get complacent about things they've done over and over. That was one thing that my skydiving instructors drilled into my head every day. Nothing is routine in the air. It's always unpredictable. Just because you've done something a million times and never had a problem, doesn't mean you won't have one.

To drive this home with skydivers, there is something in the training called "relative work". What that means is that one goes up with a parachute and two spares, with the intention to make the main parachute fail and then find a way out of the situation. When I was learning, instructors would have us intentionally go out of control in freefall. You literally have seconds to fix the situation. Your mind works damn fast! But the reality is- you rarely encounter such problems and forget how to deal with them. That could have happened to Steve Fossett. I really hope not though.
 
leekohler said:
IJ- the weird thing about aviation in any of its forms is this- the most experienced people can die doing relatively simple tasks. That's because anything involving aviation is pretty complex already. People get complacent about things they've done over and over. That was one thing that my skydiving instructors drilled into my head every day. Nothing is routine in the air. It's always unpredictable. Just because you've done something a million times and never had a problem, doesn't mean you won't have one.
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As a pilot, I know about how bad things can happen very quickly, even to experienced people. Still, knowledge, skill and judgement do come into play, as does tolerance for risk. Another factor to consider is that most aviation accidents aren't the result of one mistake or problem, but a chain of mistakes or problems. These kinds of accidents usually happen to people who push beyond their level of competency and don't recognize that they're in trouble quickly enough to get out of it. I've been on that hairy edge a couple of times.

I'm not sure what that says about Steve Fossett, but for all his exploits, he was never a taker of needless chances. From what I understand, he's not the kind of pilot who'd fly into a blind canyon just for the thrill, or simply because he doesn't understand how dangerous it can be.

As you say, anything can happen in aviation. Still, I'm shaking my head over here at the idea that, over a week later, no trace can be found of him. For someone who could hardly have flown more than 100 miles from where he took off, this is just plain strange.
 
IJ Reilly said:
As a pilot, I know about how bad things can happen very quickly, even to experienced people. Still, knowledge, skill and judgement do come into play, as does tolerance for risk. Another factor to consider is that most aviation accidents aren't the result of one mistake or problem, but a chain of mistakes or problems. These kinds of accidents usually happen to people who push beyond their level of competency and don't recognize that they're in trouble quickly enough to get out of it. I've been on that hairy edge a couple of times.

I'm not sure what that says about Steve Fossett, but for all his exploits, he was never a taker of needless chances. From what I understand, he's not the kind of pilot who'd fly into a blind canyon just for the thrill, or simply because he doesn't understand how dangerous it can be.

As you say, anything can happen in aviation. Still, I'm shaking my head over here at the idea that, over a week later, no trace can be found of him. For someone who could hardly have flown more than 100 miles from where he took off, this is just plain strange.
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Ah yes, you're a pilot. I took one look at the pilot training book and thought- OK this isn't for me. :) Good for you for doing it.

Let's hope they find him soon.
 
leekohler said:
Ah yes, you're a pilot. I took one look at the pilot training book and thought- OK this isn't for me. :) Good for you for doing it.

Let's hope they find him soon.
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And you skydive. I took a look at that once upon a time, and decided to stay inside the airplane.

In fact there's a old joke about that:

Pilot to skydiver: You'd never catch me jumping out of a perfectly good airplane.
Skydiver to pilot: Have you ever flown in a jump plane?
 
IJ Reilly said:
In fact there's a old joke about that:

Pilot to skydiver: You'd never catch me jumping out of a perfectly good airplane.
Skydiver to pilot: Have you ever flown in a jump plane?
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Haha! Yeah- that's what I usually tell people too. Go up in one of those things and you'll run out the door! :) The ride up is scarier than the jump itself. ;)
 
TheAnswer said:
AP is reporting that a hiker may have located items that may be Fossett's in eastern California.
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At Mamoth? Did the plan have an autopilot? Could he have fallen asleep or something along those lines. Hard to explain being in California but then being in California would explain why the search did not come up with anything.
 
TheAnswer said:
AP is reporting that a hiker may have located items that may be Fossett's in eastern California.
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The article says next to nothing but perhaps at last we can hope for this mystery to be resolved.

ChrisA said:
At Mamoth? Did the plan have an autopilot? Could he have fallen asleep or something along those lines. Hard to explain being in California but then being in California would explain why the search did not come up with anything.
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He was flying out of a private airport in western Nevada so it's not out of the question that he'd have also been in eastern California. Falling asleep? That's entirely out of the question.
 
IJ Reilly said:
The article says next to nothing but perhaps at last we can hope for this mystery to be resolved.
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Yeah. I posted as soon as I heard, so the initial report was a bit sparse.

This story, if true, seems to indicate that it was indeed Fossett. (Google map of the area the hiker was in).

I know both Nevada and Eastern California are difficult regions to find plane wreckage in, but does anyone more familiar with the search know if this area was part of the search area?
 
hm. doesn't that indicate he was alife when he crashed? otherwise the stuff should have been found right next to the plane.

i don't know the mamoth area to well but there is water around and orientation isn't too hard because you can see the mountain ranges. this is really a mystery.
 
wow, this has all ingredients for a conspiracy theory. usually when you want something to be found you leave money (cash) with it because people pay attention to it.

anyway, it must be nerve wrecking for his family and i hope when they examine his plane (if it is his) then they will have finally closure.
 
Wreck confirmed as Fossett plane

BBC:
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.
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