Those quoted in the article who think Fossett might be alive are the head of the search team with egg on his face and someone trying to avoid writing a $50mm check. not exactly unbiased opinions. For all you fans of Mr. Fossett, here's an article Jeremy Clarkson wrote about him last fall that I think is brilliant. http://www.topgear.com/content/features/stories/2007/10/stories/13/1.html
A backpacker claims to have found a photo ID, an article of clothing, and some cash which are thought to have belonged to Steve Fossett. The ID is in Fossett's name - they were found in a mine or cave somewhere in the general area where he turned up missing. MSNEWS, I am looking for more on this. It also said this was the one-year anniversary of him going missing.
FROM CNN: http://edition.cnn.com/2008/US/10/01/fossett.discovery/index.html (CNN) -- Hikers in California have found items that may belong to missing millionaire adventurer Steve Fossett, officials said Wednesday. Steve Fossett, seen with wife Peggy in a 2006 photograph, disappeared in September 2007. A weathered sweat shirt, cash and a pilot's license with Fossett's name were found Tuesday near Mammoth Lakes, police Chief Randy Schienle said. The license did not have a photo, he said. "We're not certain that it belongs to Steve Fossett, but it certainly has his name on the ID," Schienle said. Fossett, who was 63, was last seen on the morning of September 3, 2007, when he took off from the Flying-M Ranch outside Minden, Nevada, in a single-engine plane. He said he was embarking on a pleasure flight over the Sierra Nevada mountain range . A judge declared Fossett legally dead in February. Watch: Police chief describes what hikers found. » No plane wreckage has been found, but a multi-jurisdictional team would return to the area of the discovery to search by air and on foot, Schienle said. Fossett made his money in the financial services industry, but is renowned for his daredevil exploits, which include nonstop, round-the-world trips aboard a balloon, a fixed-wing plane and a boat. 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 in 2005. He also set world records in round-the-world sailing and cross-country skiing. **** Mike in Kuwait
one year anniversary was September 3 I hope for the sake of family closure that this leads to more evidence of the crash. He was one of my heroes, up there with PLN...may they both rest in peace
Well, if this evidence is the real thing, and if you make the assumption that he landed or crash landed, and then tried to walk out, this would set a reasonable search radius from the point where this was found.
Where's the plane wreckage? Let's see if they find and ID that. If they can manage to find $1,000 in cash among other items then the plane shouldn't be too far away, right? Anyway, it seems like those ID's and effects eventually show up under the weirdest of circumstances. Like during 9-11. "The passport of Satam al Suqami was recovered near the World Trade Center site, reportedly a few blocks from where the World Trade Center's twin towers once stood. [14][15]; a passerby picked it up and gave it to a NYPD detective shortly before the World Trade Center towers collapsed. The passports of two other suspected hijackers, Ziad Jarrah and Saeed al Ghamdi, were recovered from the crash site of United Airlines flight 93 in Pennsylvania, and a fourth passport, that of Abdul Aziz al Omari was recovered from luggage that did not make it onto American Airlines Flight 11[16]." Planted? Naahhh.
Don't forget about the missing NASA MOON tapes being found in a Mcdonalds!!!! http://data4science.net/essays.php?EssayID=848
Minden is a long way from Mammoth. Last I heard he was out over the Black Rock Desert in NV... not in So. Cal.
Crazy, and exactly a year ago. I don't know anything about planes, but isn't there a "black box" in planes? Couldn't they find out what happened? I'm guessing no, since the wreckage was severe. And, why is the wreckage now being seen. Yahoo reports a pilot reported it, and they said they found it by doing an aerial search. IMO, the story doesn't add up the way it should.
He must have survived as how could his card and loose money be found that far away from the carsh site?
Those little Citabrias bareley have a Nav-Com radio, let alone a black box. They do have an ELT (locator trasmitter), but these often are out of battery power or otherwise inoperable on really small planes. My old 5190X had a little Genave combo which only had 360 channels, so when I flew through the Dallas TSA they had to hand me off to a special controller who would avoid giving me mid frequencies that I could not tune in. It also had the charming quality that if you wanted to check a VOR locator, you had to turn off your voice communication side - it could only do one thing at a time! BTW, the news short I read says that they are not yet sure if the wreckage they found is actually the Fossett plane - probably more information will be coming out shortly.
Ah, thanks, I really do think he is alive, maybe it is me, but I don't really think he could be dead. For someone with that much experience, and with no remains or anything found (yet). I still don't think this doesn't add up. Maybe it's just me. Also, this "confirms" that it was his plane. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26976119/?GT1=43001 http://ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=165601&page=6 <-also talks about this same topic.
It appears he survived the crash, but perhaps died in his attempt to find help from his injuries. I see this as the most probable scenario at this point.
Well, that link indicates that this was a very violent crash...they said the engine was found several hundred feet from the fuselage. I seriously doubt that this was a survivable crash from that description - so you could perhaps make the case that if he was not found in the wreckage, he may have parachuted out beforehand. It would be interesting to know if the door was found with the wreckage - the Citabria has a release mechanism in the door hinge to jettison the whole door to assist in bailing out. The FAA rules for these aerobatic planes require the pilot and/or passenger to be wearing a chute, BTW...the seats do not have a back cushion so as to provide space for your parachute.