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-Short Attention Span Theater-
Adventurer Steve Fossett 'may have faked his own death'
2008-07-28
Fossett, a friend of Virgin boss Richard Branson, and the first man to fly non-stop round the earth in a hot air balloon, went missing last September when his final flight in a light plane over the Nevada desert went missing.

However, Lieutenant Colonel Cynthia Ryan of the US Civil Air Patrol has said Fossett, whose body or plane was never found, could still be alive. She said: "I've been doing this search and rescue for 14 years. Fossett should have been found. "It's not like we didn't have our eyes open. We found six other planes while we were looking for him. We're pretty good at what we do."

Fossett's disappearance sparked the biggest search in American history, with the Civil Air Patrol's Black Hawks, fitted with infra-red technology, joined by over 30 private planes and internet experts scanning the Nevada desert looking for clues.

Lt Col Ryan believes Fossett may have faked his own death due to personal problems or fears about his business dealings. There are also a number of anomalies that question whether Fossett's plane ever crashed.

Only one witness, a pilot at hotel magnate Barron Hilton's flying ranch near Reno, claims to have seen him take off that day. That witness claims Fossett asked him to prepare the plane for take off, even though he had never allowed anyone else to do this before. Fossett also apparently claimed he was going to scout for locations for a land speed record attempt, but he supposedly took off with no emergency equipment. The choice of plane was also a baffling one - a Bellanca Citabria Super Decathlon, which, according to risk assessor Robert Davis said was constructed from a steel and wood frame, but actually covered in fabric, making it easy to dismantle.

Davis conducted an eight-month investigation for insurers Lloyd's of London, said to face a £25 million payout on Fossett's death. He said: "What I've strived to find out is what happened to this man in the run-up to his disappearance, why did he disappear? I spoke to reporters who were on the scene, people who were helping out with the search efforts, anyone whom I thought could shed some light on this. I discovered that there is absolutely no proof that Steve Fossett is actually dead. I'm not a conspiracy theorist, I'm a man who deals in facts, and I don't really care if he is alive or dead, it make no difference to me. What I am interested in is the truth - and a proper criminal investigation of this man's disappearance was never undertaken by law enforcement or officials in the state of Nevada."
Posted by:mrp

#17  Very Kool Paul... way professional and responsible too.

I know several pilots who almost never file and certainly never give position-reports.

Unless you call a shout out from a bar phone the night before a position-report.
>:)
Posted by: Red Dawg   2008-07-28 23:14  

#16  Frankly, the whole thing is a little weird. Sure the desert is vast, I have flown it many times. But the probable (crash) landing radius is finite. Given the cruise speed, fuel burn, range, etc. and factoring out directions he wouldn't fly because of terrain (i.e. no flat areas for his original purpose) the search zone is large but thoroughly searchable. It's not strange to me that he didn't file a flight plan or talk to controllers. That would be a hassle for this kind of a flight. What is weird though is that he had no radio, cell or communication attempts before or after landing. And assuming it was a crash (BTW those Citabrias can be put down almost anywhere safely) there was no ELT signal. ELT batteries are check at every annual inspection. And with all those people searching and no clues I find it weird. Always have.
Posted by: Intrinsicpilot   2008-07-28 22:59  

#15  When I fly me bird, I file a flight plan with FAA. They are still free, no fees. I stay on my course, and if I deviate, I call Flight Service on their numerous remote radio outlets. Also give position reports every 20 to 30 minutes. If somebody is looking for me, I want them to have the minimum risk exposed in the search. I have been on numerous searches and it does wear and tear on machines, personnel, and treasure. A flight plan is simple courtesy. And keep your ELT battery fresh. You may need it.
Posted by: Alaska Paul    2008-07-28 22:33  

#14  Nobody knows where, exactly he went down. They know where he started, which was about 80 miles South of Reno. But again, if I were looking for a place to set a land speed record, Black Rock is the obvious place.

http://www.blackrockfriends.org/wiki/index.php/Land_Speed_Record
Posted by: knerfley   2008-07-28 21:44  

#13  he was way south of there, IIRC, outside
(east) of Garderville/Minden
Posted by: Frank G   2008-07-28 21:35  

#12  Make that Gerlach, not Gerlock
Posted by: knerfley   2008-07-28 19:21  

#11  A person looking for a place to set a land speed record would be investigating large flat areas. The best known area for setting speed records in that region would be the Black Rock Desert about 100 miles North of Reno. I believe it is the flattest place in the US with an elevation change of 0.25 INCHES over a run of 25 miles.

I don't understand why they are looking South when the obvious place would be North. Also, the Burning Man arts festival was wrapping up on that day on the Black Rock playa. There is a temporary airport there where he could land or he could land directly on the playa surface outside the BLM exclusion zone set aside for that event.

I would look in the area around Gerlock / Empire / Smoke Creek, etc.
Posted by: knerfley   2008-07-28 19:17  

#10  "The answer is clear - He [Fossett] and Amelia Earhart eloped"! > D *** NG IT, I KNEW THOSE TWO WERE UP TO SOMETHING!

Hehe.

ION, methinks #9 is correct about the CAP > TMK, and as per the Guam Area = Andersen AFB only, unless something had changed the CAP here in Guam never oper their own Helos, not for Training purposes nor even for S&R. AFAIK its also true for the mainland CAP???
Posted by: JosephMendiola   2008-07-28 19:01  

#9  What a crock of S***t. This is a phoney story.
THERE IS NO 'US Civil Air Patrol', there is the auxiliary of the United States Air Force officially named Civil Air Patrol. Civil Air Patrol DOES NOT OPERATE ROTARY WING AIRCRAFT. None, Nada, Zilch and never has. The helicopters used in the search were National Guard and Air Force helicopters.
What happened to Fossett is simple, he and Amelia Earhart eloped.
Posted by: Shusorong White1099   2008-07-28 16:54  

#8  Now I don't want to add to the conspiracy theory but Steve Fossett had been involved in recent years in setting records in gliders. I built some of the instrumentation that went into the 51000 foot altitude record flight.
A few weeks ago I heard a rumor that one of his gliding associates thinks he flew into Area 51 and was shot down by the military.
Don't believe a word of it myself. I've flown gliders out of Minden and seen the terrain.
Posted by: Aussie Mike   2008-07-28 16:42  

#7  As long as we're throwing out possible scenarios, howzabout this one:

Maybe he was murdered, his body buried in the vast desert somewhere, and the plane trip was a coverup.



No dumber than a lot of other theories....
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut   2008-07-28 15:27  

#6  The liver is hanging in there, Red Dawg. Life is good.
Posted by: penguin   2008-07-28 15:21  

#5  penguin, yes I know Dirk. I work with Graham's other company.
Posted by: remoteman   2008-07-28 15:12  

#4  How is it that the plane wouldn't have a black box and transponder and stuff to help everyone track the plane and find the wreckage? Isn't that standard stuff these days? If not it should be.
Posted by: rjschwarz   2008-07-28 14:27  

#3  I agree anyone who has flown low and slow out here in the WEST in a light plane can testify how vast the area is.

And how full of rough ground there is...
abrupt vertical rock canyons, gigantic gullies, snow capped mountain crags, sandy deserts and old salt lakes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
side question:

penguin, how's yer Liver doing? mine is mostly stable with possible work comming up...
~:)
Posted by: Red Dawg   2008-07-28 14:25  

#2  Remoteman, we must know people in common. You know Dirk R? He's a friend of mine.
Posted by: penguin   2008-07-28 14:04  

#1  Well I think this is bull****. The founder of my company, along with several of his employees, spent a lot of time looking for this guy. Didn't find squat. He does not think the death was faked. Instead, he's said that the area is so vast that finding Fossett would be like finding a needle in a haystack. He was building a sub for Fossett to fly to the bottom of the Mariana Trench (deepest point of the ocean) to set a single man record. The sub sits unfinished in an office 300 yards from where I am sitting. Very cool craft.
Posted by: remoteman   2008-07-28 13:03  

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