Aviator Steve Fossett missing

The biggest survival hurdle that pilots face is surviving to the point where they need a survival kit.
 
being that i am in aviation and i have seen many horrible things on scene of the accidents and flying with out letting anybody know your activity is like hiking and not letting people know your plans as well both can be deadly, I hope all is well with Steve.
 
As I understand it he did tell people that he was going to scout some dry lake or salt lake beds for a future land speed record assault. I know that isn't much of a flight plan, but would that help much at all out there or are there areas like that all over the place in that part of the region?
 
The law of averages catches up with us all. His number was up 20 yrs ago he just didn't know it.

Death wish and rich a bad combo.

Skam
 
Well, if he's dead he probably lived more than most would in 300 years of the ordinary middle class life.
 
Hope he's all right. One of the first things I thought of though was he might have had some crazy desire to become an aviation immortal a la Emilia Earhart. If he did want to "leave them wanting more" he could fly that plane right down a mineshaft that are common out there and he wouldn't be found. The guy had definitely peaked out after achieving his great notoriety. Probably not but I can't help running possible scenarios when someone goes missing :o
 
Yeah, and I do agree with mrostov too. The guy did a LOT.
 
I sure hope they don't find him living on the Titanic with all those babies. That would be too weird!
 
mrostov said:
Well, if he's dead he probably lived more than most would in 300 years of the ordinary middle class life.
Click to expand...

I dont call truly unimportant risk taking, living. A measurment of ones life is not how many pages in guiness one gets. Its measured by what difference you made while here.

What else could have been done with the money and effort spent on all those pointless pursuits?

My 2 cents anyway.

Skam
 
From his website.

STEVE FOSSETT
FOR THE RECORD

Steve Fossett is among the world's greatest adventurers - and in his career he has set 115 new world records or world firsts, holding current official World Records in 5 sports.

Between February 2005 and March 2006 Steve achieved the First Solo non-stop Round the World airplane flight, a follow-up 'Ultimate Flight' of over 41,000 kms, thus setting the record for the longest non-stop flight in aviation history plus a further world record RTW flight for absolute closed circuit distance (all in Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer). These three extraordinary airplane flights plus his First Solo balloon flight Round the World on Bud Light Spirit of Freedom (2002) were all milestones in aviation history.

Additionally, during the solo, non-stop Round the World balloon flight Steve also covered 3,186 miles in a single 24 hour period - and hit a top speed of 200 miles per hour - flying faster than anyone ever had by manned balloon. On previous global attempts Steve achieved the first balloon crossing of the continents of Asia, Africa, Europe and South America, and the first ocean crossings of the South Atlantic, South Pacific and Indian Oceans.

Steve Fossett is also the most successful Speed Sailor in the history of Sailing. His 2004 Round the World Record of 58 days 9 hours and 2001 TransAtlantic Record of 4 days 17 hours (both now superceded) were dramatic improvements over the previous records. Between 1993 and 2004 Fossett set 23 official world records in sailing (including 2 single-handed records), 11 of which still stand.

In gliders Steve achieved the first 1500 Kilometer Triangle flight and the first 2000 Kilometer Out-and-Return flight. In the last 3 years he has set 10 of the 21 Glider Open World Records.

Steve also holds Round the World records for medium weight airplanes (in both directions) as well as the U.S. transcontinental records for non-supersonic airplanes and unlimited turboprops. And in October 2004 Steve set the Absolute World Speed Record for airships!

In addition, he has completed premier endurance sports events including the Iditarod, Ironman Triathlon, and the English Channel swim.
 
JimMLa said:
From his website.

STEVE FOSSETT
FOR THE RECORD

Steve Fossett is among the world's greatest adventurers - and in his career he has set 115 new world records or world firsts, holding current official World Records in 5 sports.

Between February 2005 and March 2006 Steve achieved the First Solo non-stop Round the World airplane flight, a follow-up 'Ultimate Flight' of over 41,000 kms, thus setting the record for the longest non-stop flight in aviation history plus a further world record RTW flight for absolute closed circuit distance (all in Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer). These three extraordinary airplane flights plus his First Solo balloon flight Round the World on Bud Light Spirit of Freedom (2002) were all milestones in aviation history.

Additionally, during the solo, non-stop Round the World balloon flight Steve also covered 3,186 miles in a single 24 hour period - and hit a top speed of 200 miles per hour - flying faster than anyone ever had by manned balloon. On previous global attempts Steve achieved the first balloon crossing of the continents of Asia, Africa, Europe and South America, and the first ocean crossings of the South Atlantic, South Pacific and Indian Oceans.

Steve Fossett is also the most successful Speed Sailor in the history of Sailing. His 2004 Round the World Record of 58 days 9 hours and 2001 TransAtlantic Record of 4 days 17 hours (both now superceded) were dramatic improvements over the previous records. Between 1993 and 2004 Fossett set 23 official world records in sailing (including 2 single-handed records), 11 of which still stand.

In gliders Steve achieved the first 1500 Kilometer Triangle flight and the first 2000 Kilometer Out-and-Return flight. In the last 3 years he has set 10 of the 21 Glider Open World Records.

Steve also holds Round the World records for medium weight airplanes (in both directions) as well as the U.S. transcontinental records for non-supersonic airplanes and unlimited turboprops. And in October 2004 Steve set the Absolute World Speed Record for airships!

In addition, he has completed premier endurance sports events including the Iditarod, Ironman Triathlon, and the English Channel swim.
Click to expand...


Like I said his number was up a while ago. To bad the vast majority of his legacy is in Guiness. Sad really.

Skam
 
skammer said:
Like I said his number was up a while ago. To bad the vast majority of his legacy is in Guiness. Sad really.
Click to expand...
That's the inherent fallacy of the Guinness book. Their records are largely contrived events for the purpose of becoming "records".

If you invent an aircraft and make the first powered flight, THAT'S a real record. If you fly bombers around the world as a show of power, there is an incidental record set that Guinness can write about.

But playboys setting "records" for the "adventures" they devise? Russian roulette ...
('Adventures are what happen to people who aren't properly prepared.')
 
I remember the balloon around the world thing, but wouldn't have known the name of the man that did it...

It sounds about right then...A guy that does a lot of stuff that seems 'big' usually ends up dying from something simple, like a plane crash in his 'backyard.'
 
Help Find Steve Fossett! -- EDITED, I misinterpreted the site

Refer to this article, which was set up so that the public can help in the search for Steve.

You must have:
  • Some free time
  • Computer capable of running Google Earth (optional)
  • Google Earth (free, optional)
  • Broadband internet (optional)

The Standard Way
Use the Mechanical Turk system in amazon. Go and click on the first link. Sign up for an account if you don't already have one, then "Accept Hit". scroll down and you'll see an image of a region. This region is randomly selected by a program out of the general area where Steve Fossett has crashed. If you see something interesting, say Yes and Submit Hit. Sporadically the Yes/No boxes will gray out; this is the verification stage. Scroll back up to the top and answer a CAPCHA (you know, where you have to enter some warped-looking letters that appear in an image). This is to minimize sabotage, or web spiders.

These images are selected out of the latest imagery (as of Monday) taken by DigitalGlobe, so yes, they are current photos of the potential crash site.

sample1.png

Search for polygonal white objects of this size.

Optional, but Recommended For More Detail
If you wish to view the region in Google Earth (optional), download and install Google Earth if you do not already have it. Then, run this KML overlay (http://s3.amazonaws.com/fossett/geo-eye.kml) in Google Earth and display it over the image. This overlay will download the newest satellite images of the general area where Fossett crashed (taken on Monday). If you don't, you're only looking at months-old images! The new overlay should be black and white, instead of the older color images.



Marked images will be sent to a team of specialists who will determine if they contain information on the whereabouts of Steve Fossett.

Friends and family of Steve Fossett would like to thank you for helping them with this cause.
Click to expand...

For more information refer to the first link.
 
Does anyone know if he had any survival equipment with him?

I think if you fly, you should have to have a PLB, Signal mirror, laser flare, VS-17 Panel and some basic equipment for survival such as fire starting methods and water, food, sleeping bag, first aid kit and knife.

RickJ
 
None of which will do you much good if you crash and burn or die in the wreck, which probably explains his silence. But every plane should have a kit, yes.

This Google Earth search remainds me of SETI's similar computer volunteer project. Very nice indeed if it works. It could become a sort of bystander adjunct to SAR in these cases worldwide.
 
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