Crews Confirm Wreckage Is Fossett's Decathlon; No Trace Of Adventurer's Body

ANN REALTIME UPDATE 10.02.08 1910 EDT: Investigators combing through the wreckage of Steve Fossett's single-engine Bellanca Decathlon on the side of a mountain near Mammoth Lakes, CA say they've recovered a small amount of human remains near the crash site.

KTVN-2 reports there is enough for a DNA test, to confirm whether or not the remains are those of the missing adventurer, who disappeared during a scouting flight on Labor Day 2007.

In related news, the National Transportation Safety Board says it plans to remove the wreckage from the mountain Friday using a helicopter. It will then be moved to an undisclosed location for analysis.

1215 EDT: It's his plane. Authorities confirm the wreckage of a single engine aircraft discovered Wednesday in California's Inyo National Forest is the same Bellanca Decathlon that adventurer Steve Fossett took off in on his ill-fated last flight, just shy of one year and one month ago today.

Aerial spotters discovered the wreckage of the single-engine aircraft late Wednesday, near the walking trail where a hiker found identification cards belonging to the missing adventurer earlier this week.

Madera County Sheriff John 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.

Search teams planned to canvas the area throughout the weekend looking for any more signs of Fossett. The aircraft appears to have impacted a mountain ridge head-on, at roughly 10,000 feet MSL.

The National Transportation Safety Board has dispatched a team to the wreckage site.

"We know there was a post-impact fire," NTSB Chairman Mark Rosenker told reporters. "We will do a very thorough investigation when we are able to bring the parts of the wreckage to a secure location."

As ANN reported Wednesday, hiker Preston Morrow came across three pieces of identification -- two of them now confirmed to be Fossett's FAA pilot identification card, and his Soaring Society of America membership ID -- as well as $1005 during a hike Monday. Morrow said he was off the regular walking trails when he made his discovery.

After co-workers told him of the potential significance of the items he'd found, Morrow returned to the site with his wife and several friends Tuesday, where they also found a fleece pullover believed to be Fossett's.

After consulting with a lawyer, Morrow attempted to reach out to the Fossett family to tell them of his find, before the news surfaced in the general media. Those efforts were unsuccessful, and Morrow went to police in Mammoth Lakes, CA Wednesday morning.

"I am hopeful that this search will locate the crash site and my husband's remains," said Fossett's widow, Peggy, in a statement released Thursday morning.

The accident site is south of the massive 20,000 square-mile search area canvassed by federal search teams and private efforts since Fossett disappeared on Labor Day 2007, after taking off from Barron Hilton's Flying M Ranch in Yerlington, NV, on what was reported to be a scouting flight for suitable locations for a land speed record attempt.

IDENTIFICATION
  Regis#: 240R        Make/Model: BL8       Description: 8 Decathlon, Scout
  Date: 09/03/2007     Time: 0000

  Event Type: Accident   Highest Injury: Fatal     Mid Air: N    Missing: N
  Damage: Destroyed

LOCATION
  City: MAMMOTH LAKES               State: CA   Country: US

DESCRIPTION
  AIRCRAFT, SUBJECT OF AN ALERT NOTICE ISSUED 9/3/07, CRASHED UNDER UNKNOWN
  CIRCUMSTANCES, THE ONE PERSON ON BOARD IS PRESUMED FATAL, WRECKAGE LOCATED
  AT 10,150 FT ELEVATION 1/2 MILE FROM LOIS LAKE NEAR MAMMOTH LAKES, CA

INJURY DATA      Total Fatal:   1
                 # Crew:   1     Fat:   1     Ser:   0     Min:   0     Unk:   
                 # Pass:   0     Fat:   0     Ser:   0     Min:   0     Unk:   
                 # Grnd:         Fat:   0     Ser:   0     Min:   0     Unk:   

WEATHER: NOT REPORTED

OTHER DATA
  Activity: Unknown      Phase: Unknown      Operation: OTHER

  FAA FSDO: RENO, NV  (WP11)                      Entry date: 10/02/2008

(Copyrighted photo of N240R used with permission of Doug Robertson, Jr. Photo courtesy of www.airport-data.com )

Original Report

0753 EDT: The National Transportation Safety Board has told ANN 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, when the pilot departed Yerington, Nevada for a local flight. The wreckage was located at about 10,000 feet of elevation in the Sierra Nevada Mountains in the vicinity of Mammoth Lakes, California.

Senior Investigator Georgia Struhsaker has been designated Investigator-in-Charge for this accident.  She will be assisted by two other NTSB investigators and by the Federal Aviation Administration. NTSB Chairman Mark V. Rosenker is accompanying the team and will serve as principal spokesman for the on-scene investigation.

ANN will provide information as it becomes available throughout the day....

FMI: www.ntsb.gov