From The Denver Post:
A small plane carrying aviation adventurer Steve Fossett has been missing since Monday night, federal officials said today.Fossett, who has a home in Beaver Creek, took off in the single engine Bellanca at 8:45 a.m. Monday at a private airstrip on a ranch south of Smith Valley in western Nevada and didn't return as scheduled. A friend reported him missing, said Ian Gregor, a Federal Aviation Administration spokesman in Maryland.
"The Civil Air Patrol is looking for him. One problem is he doesn't appear to have filed a flight plan," Gregor told The Associated Press.
The search was being coordinated by the Air Force's Rescue Coordination Center in Langley, Va., Gregor said.
"They are working on some leads, but they don't know where he is right now," Gregor said.
In July, Fossett said he planned to go to Argentina in November in an effort to break a glider record.
Comments (21)
That's very sad for his fam... (Below threshold)1. Posted by langtry | September 4, 2007 2:38 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
That's very sad for his family, but did anyone not think that Steve Fossett's relentless quest for adventure wouldn't kill him one of these days?
1. Posted by langtry | September 4, 2007 2:38 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on September 4, 2007 14:38
2. Posted by epador | September 4, 2007 2:38 PM | Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
Simple things like filing a flight plan, when overlooked, can have devastating consequences.
2. Posted by epador | September 4, 2007 2:38 PM |
Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
Posted on September 4, 2007 14:38
3. Posted by langtry | September 4, 2007 2:40 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Indeed, epador. Especially when you are flying in mountainous areas.
/ Sorry for the double-negative in my post. The effect of a day ofd, lol!
3. Posted by langtry | September 4, 2007 2:40 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on September 4, 2007 14:40
4. Posted by yo | September 4, 2007 3:29 PM | Score: -1 (1 votes cast)
... Marco ...
4. Posted by yo | September 4, 2007 3:29 PM |
Score: -1 (1 votes cast)
Posted on September 4, 2007 15:29
5. Posted by D-Hoggs | September 4, 2007 4:23 PM | Score: -1 (5 votes cast)
Sorry for him and his family as well, but is anyone else tired of hearing about the misadventures of rich aviators? And does it really need to be 24-7 news?
5. Posted by D-Hoggs | September 4, 2007 4:23 PM |
Score: -1 (5 votes cast)
Posted on September 4, 2007 16:23
6. Posted by Clancy | September 4, 2007 4:23 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
I've been out of aviation for a while now, but flight plans aren't required unless you're planning on flying IFR (Instrument Flight Rules - i.e. through clouds). And even then they can be filed from the air if necessary. (the rules might have changed and I could be talking out my backside.)
But my point in all of this is that very few people file flight plans for pleasure flights, and based on the scant information in the article, this looks to have been a pleasure flight...
6. Posted by Clancy | September 4, 2007 4:23 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on September 4, 2007 16:23
7. Posted by Clancy | September 4, 2007 4:37 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Another report stated that the airplane was a Bellanca Citabria Super Decathalon (aerobatic trainer) which is highly unlikely to have been equipped for instrument flight which means it's possible that he's never filed a flight plan to fly that aircraft.
7. Posted by Clancy | September 4, 2007 4:37 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on September 4, 2007 16:37
8. Posted by Paul | September 4, 2007 6:07 PM | Score: -1 (3 votes cast)
Ya gotta love the internet....
The guy is missing and perhaps dead and there is a race to be the first to call him an idiot...
8. Posted by Paul | September 4, 2007 6:07 PM |
Score: -1 (3 votes cast)
Posted on September 4, 2007 18:07
9. Posted by Paul Hooson | September 4, 2007 8:54 PM | Score: 2 (2 votes cast)
Risky sports are fun. I like motor scooters for example, but had a bad accident on my birthday, August 2, due to some sudden pothole damage to my steering. You take a risk with any sort of extreme sports. This does not sound very good for adventurer Steve Fosse so far. Let's all pray that he shows up safe very soon and lives another day to pursue his extreme sports thrills again. Getting killed really puts an end to your fun like nothing else.
9. Posted by Paul Hooson | September 4, 2007 8:54 PM |
Score: 2 (2 votes cast)
Posted on September 4, 2007 20:54
10. Posted by Paul Hooson | September 4, 2007 8:55 PM | Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
My typo error: Steve Fossett I meant.
10. Posted by Paul Hooson | September 4, 2007 8:55 PM |
Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
Posted on September 4, 2007 20:55
11. Posted by nogo war | September 4, 2007 9:18 PM | Score: 3 (3 votes cast)
Pilots and their passengers die. However, as we are a nation obsessed with celebrities someone like this
http://www.who2.com/stevefossett.html
receives ridicule...simply because he is/was rich.
He did push things...but that is not wrong...
We should not be jealous because he had the money to pursue adventures. If the worst is real..he lived an amazing life....and I salute that.
11. Posted by nogo war | September 4, 2007 9:18 PM |
Score: 3 (3 votes cast)
Posted on September 4, 2007 21:18
12. Posted by Tim | September 4, 2007 9:48 PM | Score: 2 (2 votes cast)
Think of all the things Fossett did or attempted, then to possibly come to an end on a routine small plane flight. I imagine he'd be pissed if he died doing something so, so... ordinary.
12. Posted by Tim | September 4, 2007 9:48 PM |
Score: 2 (2 votes cast)
Posted on September 4, 2007 21:48
13. Posted by epador | September 4, 2007 10:12 PM | Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
Scouting an area for his next adventure. Still, a flight plan is smart when flying through remote and dangerous areas.
13. Posted by epador | September 4, 2007 10:12 PM |
Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
Posted on September 4, 2007 22:12
14. Posted by Larkin | September 4, 2007 11:30 PM | Score: -2 (2 votes cast)
What's happening over here? Complete silence about Larry Craig? Is the site broke or something?
Come on, Wizbangers. Where do you stand? Should Craig stay or go?
14. Posted by Larkin | September 4, 2007 11:30 PM |
Score: -2 (2 votes cast)
Posted on September 4, 2007 23:30
15. Posted by kim | September 5, 2007 12:05 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Polo.
====
15. Posted by kim | September 5, 2007 12:05 AM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on September 5, 2007 00:05
16. Posted by Lugnut | September 5, 2007 7:15 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
It's a FACT that virtually all general aviation, VFR flights happen without filing a flight plan. It's a common practice that's gone on for decades. Usually the only time you file one is when you're a student or on a long, complicated cross-country trip.
Epador, if he hit the side of hill he'll be just as dead whether he filed a flight plan or not. In this case, all a flight plan does is enable them to find the body a few hours sooner.
16. Posted by Lugnut | September 5, 2007 7:15 AM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on September 5, 2007 07:15
17. Posted by moseby | September 5, 2007 12:02 PM | Score: -2 (2 votes cast)
never heard of this guy before. don't really care what happened. Hey is that Brittany's dog getting a flu shot over there?
17. Posted by moseby | September 5, 2007 12:02 PM |
Score: -2 (2 votes cast)
Posted on September 5, 2007 12:02
18. Posted by Falze | September 6, 2007 10:57 AM | Score: -1 (1 votes cast)
Hmmmm...rich guy's plane disappears into a remote area.
Who is Steve Fossett?
18. Posted by Falze | September 6, 2007 10:57 AM |
Score: -1 (1 votes cast)
Posted on September 6, 2007 10:57
19. Posted by Al | September 7, 2007 10:22 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
If I found him dead, the first thing I would do is go through his pockets. If he's alive, he's gotta be hungry.
19. Posted by Al | September 7, 2007 10:22 AM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on September 7, 2007 10:22
20. Posted by john | September 8, 2007 7:26 AM | Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
Back in 1996 Mr. Fosset was trying to go around the world in his balloon. After taking off from S. Dakota he ended up landing prematurely in front of my house in Hampton N.B. Canada.Luckily for him he landed safely, but his balloon was in shreds, his electronic equipment was shot and it was super cold out. Luckily for me I was able to video his landing and I sold it to ABC News for $1000, who ran it as top story that day on World News Tonight. I was able to meet and talk to him, he was very nice. What a boring and unprogressive place this world would be without people like him, who I liken to Charles Lindburg or Amelia Earhart or Sir Edmund Hillary. I sicerly hope he is still alive and if not that others will still follow their dreams of going where no man(or woman) has gone before, and the rest of us can just dream along with them.
20. Posted by john | September 8, 2007 7:26 AM |
Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
Posted on September 8, 2007 07:26
21. Posted by Mayfield | September 9, 2007 7:08 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Dang, I think if I had his money, I would spend my life wrapped in bubble wrap, instead of taking risk.
21. Posted by Mayfield | September 9, 2007 7:08 AM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on September 9, 2007 07:08