But Still No Sign Of Missing Aviator

Crews searching for famed aviator Steve Fossett, who went missing over the Nevada desert Monday, have turned up six previously unidentified accident sites... but still no sign of the man they're searching for.

The Nevada Record-Courier reports searchers have stumbled upon a half-dozen accident sites around Nevada and California since the search began in earnest five days ago, including a location near Fort Churchill Road that emergency personnel initially thought may have been connected to Fossett.

Further investigation by a Care Flite helicopter crew showed it to be an old accident scene, however, involving an aircraft last registered in Oregon in 1975.

"That we're finding so many crash sites is an indication of the search we're doing," Civil Air Patrol spokeswoman Major Cynthia Ryan said. "We’re putting the area under a microscope, so to speak."

The appoximately 17,000 square-mile search area could include as many as 150 such accident sites, Ryan added.

As ANN reported Friday, crews are using a variety of methods -- from advanced airborne imaging equipment, to search crews on horseback -- to search for the missing adventurer, who disappeared Monday during a flight to scout possible locations to attempt a land-speed record later this year.

FMI: www.cap.gov, www.stevefossett.com, http://dps.nv.gov