NationStates Jolt Archive

Apparent Steve Fossett belongings found

(CNN) -- Hikers in California have found items that may belong to missing millionaire adventurer Steve Fossett, officials said Wednesday.

A weathered sweat shirt, cash and a pilot's certificate with Fossett's name were found Tuesday near Mammoth Lakes, police Chief Randy Schienle said. The certificate did not have a photo, he said.

"We're not certain that it belongs to Steve Fossett, but it certainly has his name on the ID," Schienle said.

Fossett, who was 63, was last seen on the morning of September 3, 2007, when he took off from the Flying-M Ranch outside Minden, Nevada, in a single-engine plane.

He said he was embarking on a pleasure flight over the Sierra Nevada mountain range.

A judge declared Fossett legally dead in February.

No plane wreckage has been found, but a multi-jurisdictional team would return to the area of the discovery to search by air and on foot, Schienle said. Video Watch police chief describe what hikers found »
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Fossett made his money in the financial services industry, but is renowned for his daredevil exploits, which include nonstop, round-the-world trips aboard a balloon, a fixed-wing plane and a boat.

He was the first person to circle the globe solo in a balloon, accomplishing the feat in 2002, and the first to fly a plane around the world solo without refueling, which he did in 2005. He also set world records in round-the-world sailing and cross-country skiing.

Link (http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/10/01/fossett.discovery/index.html)

I remember when he went missing, pilots were flying over his flight path, and we were even using Google Earth. I do remember that alot of other "lost flights" have been found in the search, which is awesome.

RIP Steve Fossett.

how do you know he's really dead? He could be living in a bear cave with Elvis and D.B. Cooper for all we know.

how do you know he's really dead? He could be living in a bear cave with Elvis and D.B. Cooper for all we know.

Well he's "legally dead". :p

he is in a cave in Afghanistan held by bin Laden. Being forced to make a super weapon for him. or I feel asleep watching Iron Man. either way these are scary times.

He's not dead. There was a shit load of trouble coming down the pike for him, so he decided to do a Maxwell. I believe, though couldn't swear to it, that Lloyds still hasn't paid on his life insurance for that reason.

He's not dead. There was a shit load of trouble coming down the pike for him, so he decided to do a Maxwell. I believe, though couldn't swear to it, that Lloyds still hasn't paid on his life insurance for that reason.

What is a "Maxwell"?

What is a "Maxwell"?

Where you steal all the pension fund money, buy a big house, live in it for a few years, then fake your death before you get caught and have to go to prison.

It's similar, but not identical, to pulling a Rich.

Where you steal all the pension fund money, buy a big house, live in it for a few years, then fake your death before you get caught and have to go to prison.

It's similar, but not identical, to pulling a Rich.

Now for the follow up question

What's pulling a Rich?

A Rich is where you are indicted while you are abroad, and just don't come back. You then spend the next 18 years rubbing everyone's nose in it before buying a pardon.

These are all based around the airport play, which was first used in 1987.

He's not dead. There was a shit load of trouble coming down the pike for him, so he decided to do a Maxwell.
Or even a Lord Lucan.

Or even a Lord Lucan.

Ah, but Lucan was hidden by the powers that be, not running from them. So that's an outlier.

Ah, but Lucan was hidden by the powers that be, not running from them. So that's an outlier.
You mean to say he's this guy:

http://www.crimetime.co.uk/images/prisonerlarge.jpg

A Rich is where you are indicted while you are abroad, and just don't come back. You then spend the next 18 years rubbing everyone's nose in it before buying a pardon.

These are all based around the airport play, which was first used in 1987.

Oh ok similar to doing a Skase then.

An update:

MAMMOTH LAKES, Calif. - Searchers found the wreckage of Steve Fossett's airplane in California's rugged Sierra Nevada just over a year after the millionaire adventurer vanished on a solo flight, and the craft appears to have hit the mountainside head-on, authorities said Thursday.

Crews conducting an aerial search late Wednesday spotted what turned out to be the wreckage in the Inyo National Forest near the town of Mammoth Lakes, Sheriff John Anderson said. They confirmed around 11 p.m. that the tail number found matched Fossett's single-engine Bellanca plane, he said.

Anderson said no human remains were found in the wreckage.

"It's quite often if you don't find remains within a few days, because of animals, you'll find nothing at all," Anderson said.

Teams led by the sheriff's department would continue the search for remains Thursday, while the National Transportation Safety Board was en route to probe the cause of the crash, he said.

Most of the plane's fuselage disintegrated on impact, and the engine was found several hundred feet away, Anderson said.

Searchers began combing the rugged terrain on Wednesday after a hiker found identification documents belonging to Fossett earlier in the week. The wreckage was found about a quarter-mile from where hiker Preston Morrow made his discovery Monday.

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.

"I remember the day he crashed, there were large thunderheads over the peaks around us," Mono County Undersheriff Ralph Obenberger said, gesturing to the mountains flanking Mammoth Lakes.

Aviators had previously 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.

Link (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081002/ap_on_re_us/fossett_search)

Hmm...well hopefully the NTSB will soon tell us what happened. This doesn't seem like something that Steve would do. Maybe he had a heart attack, a stroke or something while he was flying?

I want to know who ate the body.

well its good to know what happened to him. its some closure for his friends and family.

i was hoping that he HAD "pulled a maxwell" and was living in the cayman islands under an assumed name.

how do you know he's really dead? He could be living in a bear cave with Elvis and D.B. Cooper for all we know.

Fun fact: The police accidentally gave Dan Cooper a dummy parachute.

I'm kinda with Carlin on guys like this. People with more money than sense wanting to spend both in conspicuous exploits that have already been done over and over again. He died (presumably) doing what he enjoyed, like lots of others around the world with a sliver of the money Fossett had. I won't say "good riddance", but perhaps a great, big MEH.

Fun fact: The police accidentally gave Dan Cooper a dummy parachute.
If that were the case, wouldn't someone have noticed the dude splattered across the ground beside a sack of cash? They did search for him, after all.

I'm kinda with Carlin on guys like this. People with more money than sense wanting to spend both in conspicuous exploits that have already been done over and over again. He died (presumably) doing what he enjoyed, like lots of others around the world with a sliver of the money Fossett had. I won't say "good riddance", but perhaps a great, big MEH.

He was a contributor to the aviation community, that's why I'm interested in this story.

If that were the case, wouldn't someone have noticed the dude splattered across the ground beside a sack of cash? They did search for him, after all.

Judging from the money that was found years later, he hit the water.

Fun fact: The police accidentally gave Dan Cooper a dummy parachute.

I thought DB asked for several parachutes... to hint he might be taking hostages...

He asked for four parachutes. Two main ones, and two reserve ones. He cut apart one of the reserves to hold the money. The other reserve turned out to be a dummy parachute. If his main parachutes had trouble, which they probably did because he jumped out at night in a rainstorm, he'd be fucked.

He asked for four parachutes. Two main ones, and two reserve ones. He cut apart one of the reserves to hold the money. The other reserve turned out to be a dummy parachute. If his main parachutes had trouble, which they probably did because he jumped out at night in a rainstorm, he'd be fucked.

the conclusion was he was either more ballsy and crazy then any other parachutist in history or he was ignorant of parachuting and didn't realize jumping into a storm with almost no source of light was pretty close to suicide.

He is likely dead as the money was never spent or circulated in a developed country.

He was a contributor to the aviation community, that's why I'm interested in this story.

Wait, how?

Wait, how?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Fossett#GlobalFlyer

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Fossett#GlobalFlyer

Impressive, I guess. But advancing aviation?

Impressive, I guess. But advancing aviation?

*sigh* Ok, think about it. If he could fly around the world, on a single jet engine, then just imagine what companies like Boeing and Airbus will churn out now that they know it is possible to go long distance with a single jet engine aircraft.

I think Lear or one of the other Business Jet aircraft companies are starting to come out with single jet engine aircrafts.

Impressive, I guess. But advancing aviation?

contributing aviation as a hobby/sport. he did alot to put the spotlight on Aviation.

*sigh* Ok, think about it. If he could fly around the world, on a single jet engine, then just imagine what companies like Boeing and Airbus will churn out now that they know it is possible to go long distance with a single jet engine aircraft.

I think Lear or one of the other Business Jet aircraft companies are starting to come out with single jet engine aircrafts.

You do realize that the ratio of fuel to weight was 83% on that plane, right? I'm pretty sure Boeing wants to carry more than the pilot and navigator's toilety bags. Passengers, maybe? It was a flying gas tank, and it was a good thing the single engine didn't quit on him. Airliners have passenger and freight concerns as well as a need for redundant systems. I can't imagine endurance flights being important to an airline manufacturer's future designs. To have the same lift/glide capacity and still carry a profitable number of passengers, a Boeing passenger variant of the Fossett/Rutan flyer would be ridiculously large. A Lear/Gulfstream/Bombardier business version would still have to be pretty damned big to achieve the same endurance.

contributing aviation as a hobby/sport. he did alot to put the spotlight on Aviation.

Did he? I'm not so sure he's even a household name, or wouldn't be without the disappearance/crash. I'd forgotten all about him since the balloon wackiness a couple of years back.

The balloon stuff I could see as potentially useful, seeing as how Hindenburg kinda soured people on lighter-than-air craft. Modern technoogy and materials could probably advance that end of things.

You do realize that the ratio of fuel to weight was 83% on that plane, right? I'm pretty sure Boeing wants to carry more than the pilot and navigator's toilety bags. Passengers, maybe? It was a flying gas tank, and it was a good thing the single engine didn't quit on him. Airliners have passenger and freight concerns as well as a need for redundant systems. I can't imagine endurance flights being important to an airline manufacturer's future designs. To have the same lift/glide capacity and still carry a profitable number of passengers, a Boeing passenger variant of the Fossett/Rutan flyer would be ridiculously large. A Lear/Gulfstream/Bombardier business version would still have to be pretty damned big to achieve the same endurance.

This article begs to differ.

http://www.forbes.com/columnists/forbes/2007/0903/033a.html

http://www.mstarlabs.com/graphics/scaled.html

Composite material is the best thing to happen to the aviation world. :)

This article begs to differ.

http://www.forbes.com/columnists/forbes/2007/0903/033a.html

http://www.mstarlabs.com/graphics/scaled.html

Composite material is the best thing to happen to the aviation world. :)

Agreed, but did Fossett invent them?

Agreed, but did Fossett invent them?

Progress in the Aviation Community is always made with trail blazers like Steve Fossett.

You do realize that the ratio of fuel to weight was 83% on that plane, right? I'm pretty sure Boeing wants to carry more than the pilot and navigator's toilety bags. Passengers, maybe? It was a flying gas tank, and it was a good thing the single engine didn't quit on him. Airliners have passenger and freight concerns as well as a need for redundant systems. I can't imagine endurance flights being important to an airline manufacturer's future designs. To have the same lift/glide capacity and still carry a profitable number of passengers, a Boeing passenger variant of the Fossett/Rutan flyer would be ridiculously large. A Lear/Gulfstream/Bombardier business version would still have to be pretty damned big to achieve the same endurance.

Actually endurance is really important to airline companies. Fewer stops, lfewer landings/take offs, far less fuel used.

I haven't followed what fosset did though, so I can't say whether he contributed or not.

Did he? I'm not so sure he's even a household name, or wouldn't be without the disappearance/crash. I'd forgotten all about him since the balloon wackiness a couple of years back.

The balloon stuff I could see as potentially useful, seeing as how Hindenburg kinda soured people on lighter-than-air craft. Modern technoogy and materials could probably advance that end of things.

you don't have to be a 'household name' to put a spotlight on the sport.

Progress in the Aviation Community is always made with trail blazers like Steve Fossett.

If you say so. Seems to me that Ruttan was the guy doing the engineering and architecture. But I guess you need the guy with the deep pockets, too. Good for him.

you don't have to be a 'household name' to put a spotlight on the sport.

No. But it sure helps.

No. But it sure helps.
sure it helps, but it's not necessary. I'm intersted in fencing but I'll be dammed if I can't name one fencer.

I thought DB asked for several parachutes... to hint he might be taking hostages...
He was given 4 parachutes, but one of them as mentioned earlier was a dummy practise one, noticeable by the big red 'X' on it. Cooper took 2 with him, one of which was the dummy one (maybe he thought the 'X' meant 'X-tra special'). This, coupled with him leaping out into a thunderstorm at 10,000ft, is why the Feds ruled out him bring an experienced parachutist or ex-paratrooper.

I want to know who ate the body.
Don't look at me, I was nowhere near that mountain when he crashed. Honest! I've got witnesses who can back me up here.

sure it helps, but it's not necessary. I'm intersted in fencing but I'll be dammed if I can't name one fencer.

Not even the one who got you interested? Are you sure it wasn't from watching some stage fencing in a movie?

Not even the one who got you interested? Are you sure it wasn't from watching some stage fencing in a movie?
Or even from watching someone put a fence up next door.

Update:
They've found some human remains at the wreckage site:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/10/03/2381205.htm

Of course, how do we know they're Steve's? Could be an unlucky tramper who stumbled onto the wreckage and was then attacked and devoured by Fossett, who has desperately tried to hide his terrible secret of lycanthropy.

Not even the one who got you interested? Are you sure it wasn't from watching some stage fencing in a movie?

nope, it was one olympics a long time ago. so I couldn't tell you who was fencing. but after that, it was something I like to watch, but never could keep the names in mind.

nope, it was one olympics a long time ago. so I couldn't tell you who was fencing. but after that, it was something I like to watch, but never could keep the names in mind.

I can well understand your fascination for fencing after watching this guy:
http://www.fencingphotos.com/FencingPicts/040821_timacheff_AthensOlympicFencing_4686.jpg
Can't remember who it is, someone from the US team, 2004 Olympics.

Update:
They've found some human remains at the wreckage site:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/10/03/2381205.htm

Of course, how do we know they're Steve's? Could be an unlucky tramper who stumbled onto the wreckage and was then attacked and devoured by Fossett, who has desperately tried to hide his terrible secret of lycanthropy.

or worse...

soon to be dead guy: "Ahh... nature, free from the pollution of the city, free from crime, free from anything that could kill me... I'll live healthy here, for a loong time no... say... what's that sound?"