Apparent Belongings of Fossett Found- Mammoth Lakes, CA.

DougRobertson

Edited with addenda. A hiker in a rugged section of eastern California near the town of Mammoth Lakes on Tuesday found a pilot's license (sic) and other items appearing to belong to the missing Steve Fossett. Fossett disappeared on a local flight in N240R from Barron Hilton's Nevada ranch strip over a year ago. The pilot's license (sic) included Steve Fossett's name, address, date of birth and certificate number. An attempt was made to authenticate the find, and the FAA did find it to match all of Fossett's pilot records.

The hiker, Preston Morrrow, said he found an FAA identity card, the pilot's license (sic)-(it's a certificate, not a license), a third ID and $1,005 in cash tangled in a bush off a trail west of Mammoth Lakes. He turned the items over to local police, apparently on Wednesday. (He did not know the significance of his find until told by coworkers, he not being familiar with the Fossett name). Search teams led by Madera County Sheriff's Dept. have been sent to the scene, and a ground and air search was expected. Morrow had returned to the site and found no sign of a plane or human remains. Morrow first attempted unsuccessfully to contact Fossett's family, then turned everything over to the local police.

See my other Forum entries here about the missing adventurer and multiple world record holder, Steve Fossett, if by the remote chance you are not familiar with the topic.

Added info: The area of the find is about 90 miles south of the Barron Hilton ranch in extremely rugged country at about 7,800 foot elevation with peaks exceeding 13,000 feet.The area had been searched by the Civil Air Patrol and other aircraft before but the most recent search concentrated on an area 40 or so miles south of the ranch. If Fossett flew a straight course to the area of the find, he probably could have reached it less than an hour from his departure from the ranch.

Ztex

They found the airplane today....

http://news.aol.com/article/crews-find-wreckage-of-fossett-plane/154661

DougRobertson

Here is the NTSB report, dated today 2 October 2008, courtesy friend Bill Larkins.

Identification

Regis#: 240R Make/Model: BL8 Description: 8 Decathlon, Scout

Date: 09/03/2007 Time: 0000

Event type: Accident Highest injury: Fatal Mid air: No Missing: No

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 , 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

WEATHER: NOT REPORTED

OTHER DATA

Activity: Unknown Phase: Unknown Operation: OTHER

FAA FSDO: RENO, NV (WP11) Entry Date: 10/02/2008

DougRobertson

As a followup, national TV news is reporting now that human remains have been found in the N240R wreck's vicinity. The crash was directly in the face of a steep mountain, about 500 feet below the mountain's peak.

TimothyAanerud

Out of curiosity put in the "Lake Emily, MAMMOTH LAKES, CA" into Google Earth earch/fly to field. There is currently user defined data that shows the location of where various items from this crash scene were found. Zoom in a bit and you'll see a marker balloon for Emily Lake. Click on the balloon more details will appear in Google Earth.

DougRobertson

The site of the crash of N240R piloted by Steve Fossett in Madera County, California is now covered with snow and probably won't be clear until next Spring. Most crash debris has been removed, however and there is an excellent site with 109 photos from the search operation at the crash site and what was found, with story from the searchers. It can be viewed as an enlarged slide show. See:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rockwellb/sets/72157607737959209/?page=1

Read the first comment about the photos and look at the link in that comment by SB John Wiley who had flown over the crash site and photographed it.

DougRobertson

The Discovery Channel on television will show a production special that re-creates Steve Fossett'e tragic last flight and fatal crash into a steep mountain slope in California at the 10,150 foot level on 3 September 2007. The crash site is about 90 miles from Barron Hilton's ranch strip near Yerington, Nevada, the site of Fossett's flight departure.

I have given the show's producer license permission to use my copyrighted A-D photos of N240R, the 1980 Bellanca 8KCAB Super Decathlon aircraft that Fossett was flying. They will be used to animate the last flight of the aircraft from many angles in the re-creation of the flight and crash.

As an aside, the crash site in high, rugged mountainous country conceivably less than one hour's flight from the ranch strip certainly calls into question whether Fossett's last flight was really to scout suitable land on which to set a new land speed record, which scenario continues to be reported by the media.

DougRobertson

A final search before winter of the Fossett crash area was undertaken by Madera County and Mono County Sheriff personnel on 29 October 2008. Found were more human bones about one half mile from the crash site, a pair of tennis shoes, credit cards and Fossett's Illinois state driver's license. Initial DNA testing of earlier-found bone fragments was inconclusive. More DNA testing will be done on the newly found thought to be human bones.

DougRobertson

DNA testing of two human bones most recently found about one-half mile from the crash site confirmed they are definitely those of Steve Fossett. This puts an end to speculation about identity of remains associated with the crash. Animals were probably responsible for dragging the bones to the location remote from the crash site.