Fossett clues found!

[Steve Nelson]

Latest reports are that they've found aircraft wreckage at the site that appears to be Fossett's plane. No mention of remains.

SN

[Bill Greenwood]

CNN news reports the sheriff confirms the plane found is his, no more known yet.

[bdk]

Sheriff: Search teams find Fossett wreckage By TRACIE CONE and JULIANA BARBASSA, Associated Press Writers
18 minutes ago



MAMMOTH LAKES, Calif. - Search teams confirmed that wreckage found in the rugged eastern mountains of California is that of missing adventurer Steve Fossett's airplane, the Madera County sheriff said Thursday.


An aerial search late Wednesday spotted what appeared to be wreckage in the Inyo National Forest near the town of Mammoth Lakes, Sheriff John Anderson saud. Ground crews were confirmed it was Fossett's single-engine Bellanca plane late that night.

Searchers began combing a rugged part of eastern California on Wednesday after a hiker found identification documents belonging to Fossett earlier in the week. A pilot reported seeing possible wreckage around sunset, said Erica Stuart, spokeswoman for the Madera County Sheriff's Office.

The IDs provided the first possible clue about Fossett's whereabouts since he disappeared Sept. 3, 2007, after taking off from a Nevada ranch owned by hotel magnate Barron Hilton.

Aviators had flown over Mammoth Lakes, about 90 miles south of the ranch, in the search for Fossett, but it had not been considered a likely place to find the plane.

The most intense searching was concentrated north of the town, given what searchers knew about sightings of Fossett's plane, his plans for when he had intended to return and the amount of fuel he had in the plane.

A judge declared Fossett legally dead in February following a search for the famed aviator that covered 20,000 square miles.

[Airlift48]

http://news.aol.com/article/crews-find-wreckage-of-fossett-plane/154661?icid=100214839x1210932629x1200615072

[P51Mstg]

Glad they found it...... Looked pretty shady at first.........

Mark H

[Django]

How would his ID, cash and a pullover end up 1/4 mile away from a crash site where the plane only leaves a smoking hole essentially? Something's not right.

[Bill Greenwood]

The wallet or papers could have been moved downhill by water from melting snow, or rain, or carried by an animal. The papers as shown on tv appeared weathered and the corner of the pilot license seemed burned or broken off. I guess the explanation will be mostly clear when the remains are found. A shame he was lost.

Last edited by Bill Greenwood on Thu Oct 02, 2008 11:18 am, edited 1 time in total.

[Django]

Ok, but the plane made a smoking hole. How did the body (or if he was alive) get seperated from the plane, before the crash?

[Matt Gunsch]

Ok, but the plane made a smoking hole. How did the body (or if he was alive) get seperated from the plane, before the crash?

Does anyone know if was wearing a chute ? A Decathalon is a aerobatic plane, maybe he bailed out but was too low, hence smoking hole and surviving paper.

[51fixer]

Thunderstorms in the area could have damaged it or the aircraft might have broke up in flight. We still don't know how much of the A/C is at the impact.
Any idea if he was wearing a parachute and if so, he might have tried to bail at the last moment.
The impact could scatter things and as mentioned animals and water/snow will move large chunks of things, even large rocks.
This is an area that will get 10' or more of snow piled up in the winter.
Although the 1 time I went to ski Mammouth it was Feb and virtually no snow. The local Southern Calif. ski resorts had better skiing that weekend.
Rich

[Chicoartist]

How would his ID, cash and a pullover end up 1/4 mile away from a crash site where the plane only leaves a smoking hole essentially? Something's not right.

It's way early since apparently no aviation experts have reported their opinions yet after examining the evidence, but upon reading the news stories I thought the same thing.

They say he could not have survived the impact (based on the wreckage), but maybe he bailed out? A man of his experience, to me, wouldn't hesitate to hit the silk if he knew he were going down in a heavily wooded (??) area. Did he have a chute in that plane? Maybe not if it's a small civvie ship. If animals removed his remains from the wreckage, then the documents and money wouldn't be all together like that (??) 1/4 mile away ...

Either way, it's obvious he's deceased after this much time. Will be interesting after an expert forensic analysis.

Wade

[Bill Greenwood]

Matt, CNN said he did not wear a chute. The sheriff says he remembers that day as having some bad weather in the area. It gets lots of snow, I once went to ski race camp there in June, of course we were skiing near the top of the peaks.

[Matt Gunsch]

Matt, CNN said he did not wear a chute. The sheriff says he remembers that day as having some bad weather in the area. It gets lots of snow, I once went to ski race camp there in June, of course we were skiing near the top of the peaks.

the Sherriff does not have a very good memory, weather appeared to be very flyable, 10 mile vis.

http://www.wunderground.com/history/air ... atename=NA

Time (PDT): Temp.: Dew Point: Humidity: Sea Level Pressure: Visibility: Wind Dir: Wind Speed: Gust Speed: Precip: Events: Conditions:
8:48 AM 69.8 °F / 21.0 °C 44.6 °F / 7.0 °C 40% 30.33 in / 1027.0 hPa 10.0 miles / 16.1 kilometers ESE 8.1 mph / 13.0 km/h / 3.6 m/s - N/A Clear
10:49 AM 80.6 °F / 27.0 °C 39.2 °F / 4.0 °C 23% 30.32 in / 1026.6 hPa 10.0 miles / 16.1 kilometers East 10.4 mph / 16.7 km/h / 4.6 m/s - N/A Clear
11:50 AM 82.4 °F / 28.0 °C 41.0 °F / 5.0 °C 23% 30.30 in / 1026.0 hPa 10.0 miles / 16.1 kilometers Calm Calm - N/A Clear
12:50 PM 80.6 °F / 27.0 °C 44.6 °F / 7.0 °C 28% 30.28 in / 1025.3 hPa 10.0 miles / 16.1 kilometers SSE 8.1 mph / 13.0 km/h / 3.6 m/s - N/A Mostly Cloudy
3:53 PM 84.2 °F / 29.0 °C 44.6 °F / 7.0 °C 25% 30.24 in / 1023.9 hPa 10.0 miles / 16.1 kilometers West 19.6 mph / 31.5 km/h / 8.7 m/s 28.8 mph / 46.3 km/h / 12.9 m/s N/A Clear

[Matt Gunsch]

something I noticed, the plane he was flying was a blue and white Decathalon, the wreckage pictured is Red and white.
http://www.stevefossett.com/pics/latest ... athlon.jpg

[mustangdriver]

Pictures above show it as blue in the wreckage as well.