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Bones Found Near Crash Site Confirmed Fossett's
Posted by
kdawson
on Wed Nov 05, 2008 03:58 AM
from the closure-and-rest dept.
from the closure-and-rest dept.
Trip6 writes "Bones found near the wreckage of the plane flown by Steve Fossett when he disappeared last fall have been confirmed to be Fossett's by DNA analysis. The NTSB is still investigating the crash. Fossett may have been searching for a place to break the land speed record, his next quest."
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Steve Fossett Missing 317 comments
jd writes "Steve Fossett, the first person to fly a plane around the world without refueling, the first person to fly around the world in a balloon, and possibly the record-holder for the highest-altitude glider flight, is missing in Nevada. He is reported to have taken off in a light aircraft last night and has not been seen since. As he had filed no flight plan, would-be rescuers have no idea where to even begin looking. The plane took off from a private airstrip on a ranch at the south end of Smith Valley in western Nevada."
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Fossett's Plane Found 356 comments
otter42 writes "Sadly, it looks as if all those crazies claiming Steve Fossett was still alive were wrong after all. The NY Times has the confirmation that wreckage of Fossett's Bellanca Citabria was found. Now it's up to the NTSB to tell us why this happened, although, statistically, dollars to donuts it was engine/fuel-related."
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I was right! (Score:5, Funny)
Sad news. (Score:5, Insightful)
The mad died doing what he loved, flying a plane. I guess the lesson is that no matter how much experience a pilot has, flying is still a risky business.
-jcr
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2, Funny)
Maybe you should start wearing parachute pants.
Re:Sad news. (Score:5, Insightful)
No, he didn't die while flying a plane. He died while crashing a plane.
Parent
Re:Sad news. (Score:5, Insightful)
The vast majority of plane crashes occur while the planes are flying.
Very few simply crash while they're sitting in the hangar - so he was still flying when he crashed I expect.
Parent
Re:Sad news. (Score:5, Funny)
Look, if you're going to make wild claims like that, I want to see some statistics to back them up.
Parent
Re:Sad news. (Score:4, Insightful)
Well, I remember this crash [wikipedia.org], but I haven't heard of too many others like it.
-jcr
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
98.4% of plane crashes occur while the planes are flying.
Happy now?
most deadly air disaster (Score:4, Interesting)
The vast majority of plane crashes occur while the planes are flying.
Whilst the above is true, it's worth noting that the most deadly aviation disaster occured on the ground, at Tenerife's Los Rodeos airport [super70s.com] where two 747s collided, killing 683 people.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
one of the planes taking part in the collision was already airborne at the crash point.
Re: (Score:2)
Not that it's totally against what you wrote but most planes crash at start or landing, and not while actually flying as in "omg all engines failed and now we will drop 10.000 m."
Re: (Score:2)
The vast majority of plane crashes occur while the planes are flying.
No, the vast majority of plane crashes occur when planes stop flying, or fail to begin flying in the first place.
CFIT is mercifully uncommon these days.
Re: (Score:2)
Flying implies controlled, I suspect that even the couple moments before he crashed it wasn't controlled.
Re:Sad news. (Score:4, Informative)
No, they occur when the plane ceases flight.
Parent
Re:Sad news. (Score:4, Interesting)
Parent
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
The term is either "Controlled flight into terrain" or "Uncontrolled flight into terrain", depending on the cause of the crash. Either way, it's flight.
Re: (Score:2)
What are mid-air collisions called? With other aircraft?
"Mid-air collisions". See the bit about TCAS in this report [bfu-web.de]
Or crashes while taxiing? I'd imagine those are less common though....
Don't know. The incident that springs to mind was the Tenerife crash in 1977, but I'm not aware of any usual terminology for that sort of incident (there can be a "usual terminology" for a highly unusual accident, because the folks managing safety will still talk about what they're working to avoid, but most of my experience is en-route or take-off/landing rather than ground movements).
Anyway, for aviation safety purposes,
flight is defined (in as s
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
I suspect we will never know why his aircraft belted in to the side of the mountain in clear air - cloud cover was apparently much higher at the time, so visibility was good.
I can well imagine he was incapacitated or dead before impact - the other possibility is suicide I guess.
Re:Sad news. (Score:5, Informative)
I can well imagine he was incapacitated or dead before impact
Could have had a CO leak into the cockpit, a stroke, a heart attack... Since it was so long after the crash the remains were found, we'll probably never know.
-jcr
Parent
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
That's been extended as of around June, I think. Third-class certificates now last 60 calendar months if the person is under 40. The change is retroactive, so if you're two years into your 36-month certificate, you're now two years into your 60-month certificate.
They could rule out mechanical failure (Score:2)
The investigators will at least be able to rule in or out problems with the aircraft - unless theres been some very hungry aluminium chomping wildlife around that area recently!
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
You don't need CO.
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2002/03/23/1016843080716.html [theage.com.au]
Re:Sad news. (Score:5, Insightful)
Clear air doesn't always mean safe air. Given his altitude, airframe icing may be a cause.
Nor does experience mean the pilot will always make the best decisions...experience is the best teacher only if you always listen to it, combined with good judgment.
I'd guess a mechanical failure of some sort. Carb door coming off and getting sucked into the manifold, bearing/crank/valve train failure, fuel delivery, whatever. Any number of problems that may arise while perhaps toodling around low and slow become huge almost unmanageable problems very quickly. The transition from aircraft to glider to lawn dart can be astoundingly quick and fully outside the bounds of any pilot to fix.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
given his altitude, if he was not wearing an oxygen mask or in a pressurized cabin, he may have simply fell asleep.
It's incredibly easy to lose consciousness at the altitude he was as if you are not vigilant at conserving your personal energy... In fact at 10,000 feet it's plain old stupid not to be wearing an air mask in that plane.
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
10,000 isn't THAT bad. Most people are fine at that altitude. By regulations you're not expressly required to use supplemental oxygen until 14,500 feet. You do have to use it however if you go above 12,500 feet (but less than the 14,500 ft mark) for more than 30 minutes.
Typically, FAA regulations are actually very well worded, and most good pilots tend to heed them very well. I don't think hypoxia was an issue here.
Re: (Score:2)
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In other words we should give everyone a pilot's license and let gravity sort out the group?
Darwin didn't see that one coming.
Re: (Score:2)
Nope.
By stats, it's a lot safer to fly on an established huge jet airline that covers millions of miles in a year than : a private pilot with any experience flying a very small aircraft. By huge orders of magnitude.
That you think by glancing at these figures and deducing flying is safe is hugely wrong. Flying in huge jumbo type jets run by mega corporations is safer than driving...probably.
That by looking at stats for what amounts to scaffolding with wings versus tires...tires wins by a huge amount.
Land speed record? (Score:2, Funny)
I'd say he possibly broke the speed landing record.
Re:Land speed record? (Score:5, Funny)
Nope. The record for a speed landing is still held by Beagle 2 which currently stands at a Mach 352 High Performance Landing.
Parent
Re:Land speed record? (Score:5, Insightful)
Parent
Re: (Score:2)
Possibly, but that certainly wasn't a world record.
Yes it was - just not this world!
There's no way.... (Score:5, Informative)
There's no way he was looking for a land speed record location near there. It's one of the most mountainous areas in the country. he may have started in the flats of Nevada, but he went over one mountain range and was skimming the peaks of another when he went down.
I backpacked in and camped about 5 miles north of that spot last year at Thousand Island Lake. He crashed at 10,000 feet up, which is nearing the limits for a small plane with unpressurized cockpit. If you make a wrong move and don't manage your energy right, you're dead, and there's nowhere to land safely. Likely it was too late by the time he realized he was in it too far and wasn't going to get back out.
The scenery up there is spectacular though, about a mile from his crash site is the Minarets and Minaret Lake, one of many alpine lakes that dot the Sierra range. There are backpacking trails nearby, but not on that particular very steep mountain side.
RIP. (Score:5, Insightful)
He died doing what he loved and always challenged his boundaries, I can admire that.
At least the mystery is finally cleared up, the crash investigation can begin.
Re:RIP. (Score:5, Funny)
Yea these jokes are in very bad taste. Whenever bones are found it is never a humerus matter.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Sounds like he was flying with a skeleton crew.
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
No bones about it!
Re: (Score:2)
Sad (but predictable on /.) to see a lot of jokes already.
No, it isn't sad atall.
I can't imagine what sort of grumpy shit you'd have to be to complain about people having a joke when you've shipped out
It doesn't diminish any of his achievements to be positive and deal with adversity whilst maintaining your sense of humour (without being ghoulish).
Risky business? Depends. Medical probs? Unlikely. (Score:2)
Also, to address the pos
Re:Risky business? Depends. Medical probs? Unlikel (Score:5, Interesting)
All an aviation medical proves is that you were probably alive at the time of the medical. I knew a fellow pilot who died of a heart attack the day after getting his aviation medical renewed!
Parent
Re:Risky business? Depends. Medical probs? Unlikel (Score:4, Interesting)
Parent
Bones Found Near Crash Site Confirmed Fossett's.. (Score:2)
.. Recovery Team. In a statement, leader of the Fossett Recovery Crew said "Doctor McCoy was alive and well after the shuttle accident, and said that maybe scattering your atoms across space isn't such a bad idea after all".
Bones... (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
He was dead on impact. Wouldn't have helped, except that it might have prevented him from being eaten.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2, Interesting)
Yea but I won't believe it until Netcraft confirms it.
If by Googling you mean Google Maps... (Score:3, Interesting)
... then yes. That is almost exactly what the GP is referring to.
With some Amazon's mTurk added over the Google layer.
http://blog.wired.com/defense/2007/09/geeks-spot-foss.html [wired.com]
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/373893/internet_users_aid_in_search_for_steve.html [associatedcontent.com]
http://innonate.com/2007/09/09/is-this-steve-fossett-the-community-searches/ [innonate.com]