Steve Fossett Missing 317
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."
Check Ireland (Score:4, Interesting)
Doesnt look good... (Score:5, Interesting)
I hope this is not the case, but this type of thing is fairly common in the aerobatic world. Hence, the reason why they require the use of parachute(s)...
Re:Check Ireland (Score:5, Interesting)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Wrong_Way_Corr
Re:No flight plan? No beacon? (Score:3, Interesting)
They are required in IFR (i.e., bad weather). They are not required in VFR, but are a good idea, in case this sort of thing happens.
After taking 5 different small-craft flights in the last week (vacation), I noted that a flight plan was filed only once - in heavy traffic around Denali. Weather the rest of the time was good enough, and the flights short enough, to not require a flight plan. Plus there weren't any ATC towers in Homer, Chitina, or McCarthy.
Also, consider that Fossett may not have known where he was going even after the plane was in the air. He might just have wanted to spend some quality time in the air with his craft, flying wherever he wanted to go.
Re:Change Nevada State Motto (Score:3, Interesting)
Analysis (Score:2, Interesting)
2 to 5 hours of duration.
An article suggests that he told a friend that he would return by noon.
He left at 9 A.M.
If he only took enough fuel to get to his waypoint and return then
his total expected duration would be 3 hours.
This means his expected outbound waypoint should be within 1.5 hours
of departure.
If he's flying something like a cessna 170, his top speed is ~140 MPH.
If we calculate for 160 MPH to take into account either foolhardiness
or massive tail wind, his maximum distance should be in a circular radius
of 240 miles.
From that information he could be almost anywhere in Nevada.
He could be in California. Or he may have made it as far as
Arizona, Utah, Idaho, or Washington.
It would be easiest to find him by reading his day-timer,
checking his old phone messages, looking in his car, and phoning
everyone he knows (friends/family/recent business) and mapping
their positions. Perhaps his most frequent destinations from previous
flight plans would also help.
This should reduce the search area substantially and possibly give
some insights into what he may have been doing/thinking when he left.
There doesn't appear to be any mention of technical details
regarding aircraft type, fuel purchase, or his heading after takeoff.
Re:The winds were NOT very high this morning.... (Score:2, Interesting)
Steve also often wears a Breitling 'Emergency' watch that transmits on an emergency waveband when you pull the crown out. That obviously requires him to be conscious enough to do it.
It's particularly amazing that something like this can happen to Steve, given his unbelievable amount of experience under extreme avaiation conditions including several emergencies.
Steve is the most thorough, and conscientious of flyers who leaves nothing to chance, and is actually very risk-averse.
Richard Branson was just on the news pointing out the irony of an accident when just out flying, as opposed to being on some huge feat of endeavour.
Re:The winds were NOT very high this morning.... (Score:3, Interesting)
I've flown over large parts of the United States where there is no radar coverage, and no one to talk to on the radio because unless you're at quite a high altitude above the terrain, there just are no ATC or FSS antennas within line of sight. I've had to revert to old fashioned position reporting in some areas of the US while flying IFR (instrument flight rules) because there was no radar coverage on my flight path for dozens of miles. Even in relatively populated parts this happens - for example, around Lufkin, Texas - there's a huge gap in radar coverage if you're below about 7,000 feet.
ELT (Emergency Locator Transmitters) are notorious for getting activated when no emergency exists (such as a hard landing, or someone banging the side of the aircraft with their hand right by the ELT mounting), and failing to go off at all in case of an actual crash.
Re:Possibly down in one piece. (Score:3, Interesting)
There was no guys in the tower, the airfield he left from is a non-towered field. It's quite likely he was the only person on the airfield when he departed. Around 90% of airfields in the United States do not have a control tower.