NTSB Analysis Of Aircraft Parts Slated To Begin This Week

The remains of adventurer Steve Fossett's plane were removed from the accident site Saturday, to be hauled to Sacramento for detailed analysis by National Transportation Safety Board investigators.

The LA Times reports that four trips were made to the remote crash site by a Bell 205 helicopter, airlifting bundles containing the mangled remnants of the Bellanca Decathlon flown by Steve Fossett. Employees of Sacramento contractor Plain Parts conducted the salvage process, securing the bundles to a flatbed trailer for transport.

Three more bone fragments were found by searchers combing the crash site Saturday, similar in size and shape to a bone fragment found Wednesday, still awaiting analysis results from the Madeira County Sheriff's Department.

At a news conference held Saturday in nearby Mammoth Lakes, NTSB chairman Mark V. Rosenker said parts from the plane will be examined to determine how they were damaged, including possible damage prior to impact. Investigators also will be looking for blood stains, he said.

Despite a post-crash fire, Rosenker said he was not surprised that no one noticed that a plane had crashed in the mountains last year. "The fire may not have been long enough or big enough to have created a lot of interest," he said.

Rosenker described the crash area as "spectacular" and "rough." After he and other investigators were dropped off near the wreckage by a helicopter, he said that "even knowing where the site was, I couldn't see it."

Finding the crash site has narrowed the field of investigation, enabling detailed examination of archived radar data. Rosenker said, "From that radar data, we may get lucky and have a better understanding of where, and finally, when the accident occurred."

Investigators believe weather could have played an important role in the crash, so they are conducting a detailed examination of wind and cloud conditions and possible turbulence through archived records of the day of Fossett's flight, the LA Times said.

As ANN reported, Fossett disappeared September 4 of last year after departing from the Flying M Ranch, about 30 miles south of Yerington, NV. Despite one of the most intensive searches on record, no trace of Fossett or the aircraft he was flying had been found until last week.

FMI: www.stevefossett.com