Steve Fossett missing in Nevada
Teams search for adventurer's aircraft
Cloud storage: Lower cost and increase uptime
Rescue teams are scouring tracts of Nevada in the hope of locating missing millionaire adventurer Steve Fossett, who took off on Monday in a single-engined aircraft to scout possible locations for a planned attempt on the world land-speed record, AP reports.
Fosset took off at 8.45am on Monday from hotelier Barron Hilton's Flying M Ranch, roughly 70 miles southeast of Reno. He hadn't filed flight plan for the trip aboard a Bellanca Citabria Super Decathalon, and was later reported missing by a friend. According to U.S. Bureau of Land Management officials, Fossett has "an application pending for a permit to attempt the land-speed record on federal land in north-central Nevada's Eureka County, more than 150 miles away", but they were unsure if he was considering other sites.
Thirteen search aircraft worked a grid pattern in conjunction with ground teams across hundreds of square miles of "rugged" terrain, but FAA spokesman Ian Gregor admitted: "They are working on some leads, but they don't know where he is right now."
Maj. Cynthia S. Ryan of the Civil Air Patrol said: "We are committing maximum resources to this effort. As far as we know now, it is still a rescue mission." She adeed that although Fossett had "full radio capability", he hadn't been in touch since taking off.
Fossett's friend and financier of many of his adventures, Sir Richard Branson, said: "Steve is a tough old boot. I suspect he is waiting by his plane right now for someone to pick him up. The ranch he took off from covers a huge area, and Steve has had far tougher challenges to overcome in the past. Based on his track record, I feel confident we'll get some good news soon."
Fossett's many escapades include the world's longest uninterrupted flight - 26,389.3 miles in 76 hours and 45 minutes aboard the Virgin GlobalFlyer in 2006, the first solo round-the-world in a balloon flight in 2002 and a claimed world glider altitude record of 50,671 feet over the Andes in 2006.
In July, Fossett was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame and told the crowd at Ohio's Dayton Convention Center: "I'm hoping you didn't give me this award because you think my career is complete, because I'm not done." ®
COMMENTS
I'm with Richard on this.
If he managed to fly a little too far south, he would have met up with a problem. Black helicopters with miniguns and a very convincing order to land on the long strip past the 2nd ridge. And with chopper emitting ECM, there's no signal that will get out no matter what device--vehicular or personal.
If you can't climb to the top of a ridge overlooking Area 51, what makes you think a puny aircraft will be allowed any closer? Besides, no flightplan, he's nuts in the first place. Nevada is checkered with controlled airspace not only due to the obvious Area 51 thing, but other military contractors that conduct missile testing and other research. Martin has a complex out that way as well with a test range.
He's cooling his heels in a stockade someplace. Because the place isn't supposed to exist, they also can't tell anyone that he's there either.
Title
He has a modern locator device that uses satellites. The only way that it could be functioning but not sending a receivable signal is if he landed in a cave. If the plane was so badly damaged the ELT was disabled, then there's unlikely to be a happy outcome. On the whole, I can't think of any reasonable way he's going to turn out to be in good health. Shame.
Area 51
is out there, he obviously saw something he shouldn't have and is now in an underground bunker with Elvis and the space aliens.
R.L. Hunter
Agentless Backup is Not a Myth
Steps to Take Before Choosing a Business Continuity Partner
Requirements Checklist for Choosing a Cloud Backup and Recovery Service Provider
Cloud storage: Lower cost and increase uptime
SaaS data loss: The problem you didn’t know you had
