Wednesday we learned that possible traces of Steve Fossett were recovered in the California wilderness. Today, the National Transportation Safety Board announced that it has:

Dispatched investigators to California to investigate the crash of a small plane that was found yesterday that appears to be the aircraft piloted by adventurer Steve Fossett. The Bellanca 8KCAB (N240R) has been missing since September 3, 2007.

The wreckage is sitting at about 10,000 feet in the Sierra Nevada Mountains near Mammoth Lakes, California.

Meanwhile, it seems even more likely that the IDs that were found earlier this week belonged to Fossett: The name, address, date of birth and certificate number on them match FAA records, the agency says.

Update: Officials now say that the wreckage is in fact Fossett's plane.

Related Stories:
· NTSB Investigating Crash in California [Official Site]
· Possible Traces of Steve Fossett Recovered in California [Jaunted]
· Steve Fossett coverage [Jaunted]]]> pbb 2008-10-02T10:23:50-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/10/1/15508/8715

A hiker in a remote area near Mammoth Lakes, California found two "well-weathered" IDs, about $1,000 in cash and a size XL black Nautica pullover fleece that may have belonged to Steve Fossett. The items were found not far from where backcountry superstar Simon Donato was searching for Fossett this summer.

Because the IDs don't have pictures, it's hard to say with absolute certainty that the pilot ID and separate FAA ID are Fossett's, and no plane wreckage has yet been found in the area. Still, it's the first lead on the missing adventurer in months, despite numerous efforts to track down any trace of the world record holder.

Fossett, you'll remember, was declared dead by a judge in February after he disappeared after what was to be an easy afternoon flight from Barron Hilton's ranch in September 2007.

Related Stories:
· Apparent Steve Fossett Belongings Found [CNN]
· "Steve Fossett Items" Found [AFP, via Google]
· Possible Fossett ID, Items Found [AP, via Google]
· Steve Fossett coverage [Jaunted]]]> pbb 2008-10-01T15:52:53-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/7/14/165830/931

A court may have declared Steve Fossett legally dead back in February, but a group of backcountry experts and wilderness athletes is setting out to search for any sign of the super-adventurer. The 10-person squad has set up a base camp between the Bodie Hills and the Sweetwater Mountains, about a 110-mile drive south of Reno, Nevada.

Geologist and "adventure racer" Simon Donato is leading the ground search team, and his group will cover 15 to 20 miles of territory a day, focusing on wooded areas that could obscure aerial views of the wreckage of Fossett's plane.

Another similar but separate team will try its luck with an independent ground search later this year. Fossett's widow, Peggy, isn't involved with either effort.

Related Stories:
· Search for Adventurer Resumes [AP, via Google]
· Elite Team Renews Fossett Search [BBC]
· New Leads in Fossett Search [Jaunted]
· Steve Fossett Search Map [Jaunted]
· Google Maps/Where Is... coverage [Jaunted]]]> pbb 2008-07-14T17:04:24-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/5/2/13228/84441

After a lengthy and ultimately unsuccessful hunt for adventurer Steve Fossett last year, Nevada was left holding a search-and-rescue bill for $687,000. Now the governor wants his family to chip in for some of those costs. Barron Hilton, whose Flying M Ranch was the setting-off point for Fossett's fateful flight, has already sent the state a check for $200,000.

The Governor Jim Gibbons' press secretary says any contribution would be voluntary, but added:

We are going to request that they help offset some of these expenses, considering the scope of the search, the overall cost as well as our ongoing budget difficulties.

The search for Fossett was indeed a massive one, involving multiple agencies and covering 20,000 square miles. Ultimately, though, rescuers found no trace of the world record holder, and he was declared legally dead on February 15, 2008.

Related Stories:
· Nevada Governor to Ask Fossett Widow to Help Pay [AP, via Google]
· Steve Fossett Search Map [Jaunted]
· Search for Steve Fossett Scaled Back [Jaunted]]]> pbb 2008-05-02T13:30:02-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/2/18/14753/7643

Super-adventurer Steve Fossett was declared dead by a Chicago judge on Friday, more than five months after he vanished into the Nevada wilderness on a daytime flight in a light aircraft.

His widow, Peggy, took the stand during the court proceedings, testifying to Fossett's legendary survival skills:

Everybody thought he'd come walking down the road one day and have another story to tell.

Sadly, that never happened, and there's been no sign of him--or even his plane--despite a massive search operation that went on for weeks. A search-and-rescue expert at the trial testified that Fossett could've crashed in a crevice near Mt. Grant in Nevada. It's also possible, he said, that pine trees were obscuring the wreckage of his plane.

This ruling not withstanding, we're betting people will be pondering the mystery of Fossett's disappearance for decades to come.

Related Stories:
· Steve Fossett Declared Legally Dead [Chicago Tribune]
· RIP Steve Fossett [WorldHum]
· Steve Fossett Search Map [Jaunted]
· Steve Fossett coverage [Jaunted]]]> pbb 2008-02-18T14:11:09-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2007/9/26/9526/48912

US Air Force imaging experts have a new lead in the search for adventurer Steve Fossett. After scanning radar and satellite images, an official working on the search says his people have picked up new clues to Fossett's location. Ground crews as well as search aircraft will be checking an area stretching 100 miles southeast of the Flying M Ranch.

Very close to the ranch is Walker Lake and the adjacent Hawthore Army Depot. Also to the southeast of the Flying M Ranch--at about the far end of this 100 mile tract--is the Nevada Test and Training Range, home to Area 51 and other military installations.

Meanwhile, hopes for finding Fossett hang on some new technology. The Civil Air Patrol--which now only has two planes involved in the search--is using a special cameras called ARCHER and FLIR that can detect subtleties the human eye can't. But no signal has come from Fossett's on-board safeguards, a emergency locator transponders on his plane and in the Breitling watch he's probably wearing.

Related Stories:
· New Leads in Search for Fossett [AP]
· Technology May Have Abandoned Fossett [Union-Tribune]
· Search for Steve Fossett coverage [Jaunted]]]> pbb 2007-09-26T09:35:01-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2007/9/18/10431/4626

The Super Decathalon Fossett was piloting

The Civil Air Patrol searching the Nevada desert for Steve Fossett has called off its search. After setting out on Labor Day in a light airplane, Fossett disappeared, and despite a massive search has yet to be found.

Local authorities have been looking for the lost adventurer for weeks, in an area double the size of New Jersey. A police spokesman told the AFP news service:

The Civil Air Patrol feel that they have completed their search of 98% of the ground that needed to be covered.

The CAP will keep two aircraft on stand-by in case any new leads surface, and the National Guard will continue to fly search missions, as will private aircraft operating out of Barron Hilton's Flying M Ranch. Amazon and Google are still working together to provide satellite images to people who want to help with the search.

Go straight to the Flying M Ranch Map.

Related Stories:
· Search for Fossett Is Downgraded [BBC]
· Steve Fossett Search Map [Jaunted]

[Photo: Steve Fossett Challenges]]]> pbb 2007-09-18T10:15:02-05:00 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/