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....
ANN's Daily Aero-Term (11.28.25): Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS)
See All