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Tags: Steve Fossett / Adventure Travel / Light Aircraft / Bellanca Citabria Super Decathalon / Flying-M-Ranch-Map / → All Tags
Test Confirms Bones Found In California Are Fossett's
The human remains found last week by Madera County sheriff's deputies were indeed Steve Fossett's, a DNA test confirms. With the conclusive results, the mystery of what happened to the adventurer is finally coming to a close, after more than a year of searching, speculation and crowd-sourced satellite photo analysis.
Fossett's widow, Peggy, released a statement after the announcement was made:
I am hopeful that the DNA identification puts a definitive end to all of the speculation surrounding Steve's death. This has been an incredibly difficult time for me, and I am thankful to everyone who helped bring closure to this tragedy.
While there's still no official report on why Fossett's plane crashed, some news accounts say unpredictable winds in the mountains caused the Bellanca Citabria Super Decathlon to slam into a granite wall. The NTSB will release its findings in the case next year.
Related Stories:
· DNA Links Bones to Fossett [AP, via Google]
· Bone Fragments Confirmed as Fossett's [IHT]
· California Sheriff Declares Search For Fossett Over [Jaunted]
· NTSB Investigating Newly Discovered Plane Wreckage [Jaunted]
[Photo of the crash site: Madera County Sheriff's Office]
Tags: Steve Fossett / Adventure Travel / Light Aircraft / Bellanca Citabria Super Decathalon / Flying-M-Ranch-Map / → All Tags
California Sheriff Declares Search For Fossett Over
A search team led by Madera County sheriff's deputies has found Steve Fossett's Illinois driver's license, a pair of tennis shoes, a $100 bill, credit cards and some skeletal remains about a quarter-mile from the traces of the adventurer found earlier this fall. While his office is still waiting for the results of a DNA test on the bones, Sheriff John Anderson says the search for Fossett is over:
Our coroner's investigation is over and the Fossett family will finally have closure.
We talked to the family and advised them that we possibly, most likely, found the remains of J. Stephen Fossett.
There's still no verdict on why exactly the Bellanca Citabria Super Decathlon crashed, though the NTSB continues to investigate.
Related Stories:
· Experts Sure They Have Steve Fossett's Remains [SF Chronicle]
· Bones, ID Found Near Fossett Crash Site [CNN]
· NTSB Investigating Newly Discovered Wreckage [Jaunted]
Tags: Adventure Travel / Light Aircraft / Bellanca Citabria Super Decathalon / Flying-M-Ranch-Map / Steve Fossett / Google Maps / → All Tags
The Search for Fossett: NTSB Investigating Newly Discovered Plane Wreckage
Here's a larger version of this map
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]
Tags: Adventure Travel / Light Aircraft / Bellanca Citabria Super Decathalon / Flying-M-Ranch-Map / Steve Fossett / Google Maps / → All Tags
Possible Traces of Steve Fossett Recovered in California
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]
Tags: Adventure Travel / Light Aircraft / Bellanca Citabria Super Decathalon / Flying-M-Ranch-Map / Steve Fossett / Google Maps / → All Tags
Where Is Simon Donato Searching for Steve Fossett?
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]
Tags: Adventure Travel / Light Aircraft / Bellanca Citabria Super Decathalon / Flying-M-Ranch-Map / Steve Fossett / → All Tags
NV Governor Asks Fossett Widow to Pay the Bills
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]
Tags: Adventure Travel / Light Aircraft / Bellanca Citabria Super Decathalon / Flying-M-Ranch-Map / Steve Fossett / Videos / → All Tags
So Long Steve Fossett
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]
Tags: Travel Trendwatching / Virgin America / Germanwings / Chris Dodd / Girls of Southwest / Steve Fossett / → All Tags
Travel Trendwatching, PEZ Dispenser Style
This quick hit list is all about pop culture travel trends in real-time. Six bits of travel pressed, dry candy pixels for you to digest weekly.
| Fame |
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 | Virgin America's Getting In-Flight WiFi |
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50,000 Germanwings Flights For Next to Nothing |
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Chris Dodd Wants You To Visit Cuba. Legally. |
| Lame |
|
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The Saga Continues |
|
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Still Searching for Steve Fossett |
|
German Tourists Stealing from the Tip Jar |
Tags: Adventure Travel / Light Aircraft / Bellanca Citabria Super Decathalon / Flying-M-Ranch-Map / Richard Branson / Steve Fossett / → All Tags
Adventures of Link: Searching For Fossett
A Super Decathlon like the one Fossett helmed
It's now been four days since record-breaking adventure traveler Steve Fossett set off from the Flying M Ranch, and there's still no sign of him. He was expected back at Flying M the same day he took off, reportedly to scout locations for a land speed record try.
The search has been going on almost around the clock, except when weather keeps search and rescue craft grounded. Teams are covering a vast amount of territory looking for Fossett, and despite finding nothing yet, his friends, including Richard Branson, are still optimistic that'll he be found.
The latest on the search:
· Search Area Expands to 10,000 Square Miles... [ABC]
· That's "A Lot of Terrain" to Cover [CNN]
· The Search Could Go On For Two Weeks [Reuters, via NYT]
· Branson Wants Google Maps Info for the Search [Reuters]
· Experts Stunned by Fossett's Disappearance [Wired]
[Photo: VGPhoto]
