Steve Fossett#Disappearance and search

Fossett was born in Jackson, Tennessee and grew up in Garden Grove, California, where he graduated from Garden Grove High School.

Fossett's interest in adventure began early. As a Boy Scout, he grew up climbing the mountains of California, beginning with the San Jacinto Mountains.{{cite web

|title=Steve Fossett: Always 'Scouting For New Adventures' Part 1

|work=Airport Journals

|date=October 2006

|url=http://www.airportjournals.com/Display.cfm?varID=0610009

|access-date=October 2, 2008

|url-status=dead

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101210143154/http://airportjournals.com/Display.cfm?varID=0610009

|archive-date=December 10, 2010

}} "When I was 12 years old I climbed my first mountain, and I just kept going, taking on more diverse and grander projects."{{cite news | title =Search continues for aviation adventurer Steve Fossett | publisher =CNN | date =September 4, 2007 | url =http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/09/04/fossett.missing/index.html | access-date =September 6, 2007 | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20071012001023/http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/09/04/fossett.missing/index.html | archive-date =October 12, 2007 | url-status =live | df =mdy-all }} Fossett said that he did not have a natural gift for athletics or team sports, so he focused on activities that required persistence and endurance.{{cite web | title = Pioneer in the Sky | publisher = Stanford Magazine | url = http://www.stanfordalumni.org/news/magazine/1997/mayjun/articles/fossett.html | access-date = September 7, 2007 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071011192330/http://stanfordalumni.org/news/magazine/1997/mayjun/articles/fossett.html | archive-date = October 11, 2007 | url-status = dead | df = mdy-all }} His father, an Eagle Scout, encouraged Fossett to pursue these types of adventures and encouraged him to become involved with the Boy Scouts early. He became an active member of Troop 170 in Orange, California. At age 13, Fossett earned the Boy Scouts' highest rank of Eagle Scout.{{cite news

| title =Eagle Scout and BSA Executive Board Member Sets Word Record | publisher =Boy Scouts of America | date =July 3, 2002| url = http://www.scouting.org/media/press/2002/020703/index.html| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071011200209/http://scouting.org/media/press/2002/020703/index.html| archive-date = October 11, 2007 | access-date =September 12, 2007 }} He was a Vigil Honor member of the Order of the Arrow, the Boy Scouts' honor society, where he served as lodge chief. He also worked as a Ranger at Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico during the summer of 1961.{{cite journal | url=http://www.nesa.org/eagletter/2007-W.pdf | volume=33 | issue=3 | title=NESA President Steve Fossett: A Tribute | publisher=National Eagle Scout Association |journal=Eagletter | date=Winter 2007 | access-date=August 9, 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101006123912/http://nesa.org/eagletter/2007-W.pdf | archive-date=October 6, 2010 | url-status=dead | df=mdy-all }} Fossett said in 2006 that Scouting was the most important activity of his youth.

In college at Stanford University, Fossett was already known as an adventurer; his Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity brothers convinced him to swim to Alcatraz and raise a banner that read "Beat Cal" on the wall of the prison, closed two years previously. He made the swim but was thwarted by a security guard when he arrived. While at Stanford, Fossett was a student body officer and served as the president of a few clubs.{{which|date=August 2018}} In 1966, Fossett graduated from Stanford with a degree in economics.{{cite news | title = Branson fears missing Fossett is injured | publisher = CNN | url = http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/09/05/fossett.missing/ | access-date = September 7, 2007 | date = September 5, 2007 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071012014129/http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/09/05/fossett.missing/ | archive-date = October 12, 2007 | url-status = live | df = mdy-all }} Fossett spent the following summer in Europe climbing mountains and swimming the Dardanelles.

In 1968, Fossett received an MBA from the Olin School of Business at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, where he was later a longtime member of the Board of Trustees.{{cite news

| last =Smith

| first =Bill

|author2=Deere, Stephen

| title =Steve Fossett's plane is missing

| newspaper =St. Louis Post-Dispatch

| date = September 5, 2007

| url =https://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/stlouiscitycounty/story/CDBB74A9E1D3BA3C8625734D000DDA68?OpenDocument

| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20070907161003/http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/stlouiscitycounty/story/CDBB74A9E1D3BA3C8625734D000DDA68?OpenDocument

| archive-date =September 7, 2007

| access-date =September 7, 2007 }} Fossett's first job out of business school was with IBM; he then served as a consultant for Deloitte and Touche, and later accepted a job with Marshall Field's. Fossett later said, "For the first five years of my business career, I was distracted by being in computer systems, and then I became interested in financial markets. That's where I thrived."

Fossett then became a successful commodities salesman in Chicago, first for Merrill Lynch in 1973, where he proved a highly successful producer of commission revenue for himself and that firm. He began working in 1976 for Drexel Burnham, which assigned him one of its memberships on the Chicago Board of Trade and permitted him to market the services of the firm from a phone on the floor of that exchange. In 1980, Fossett began the process that eventually produced his enduring prosperity: renting exchange memberships to would-be floor traders, first on the Chicago Board Options Exchange.{{cite news

|last = Halvorson

|first = Todd

|title = Aviator Fossett tries to break distance record

|work = Florida Today

|publisher = USA Today

|date = September 4, 2007

|url = https://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/space/2006-02-05-fossett-nonstop-flight_x.htm

|access-date = February 5, 2006

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060208051705/http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/space/2006-02-05-fossett-nonstop-flight_x.htm

|archive-date = February 8, 2006

|url-status = live

|df = mdy-all

}}

After fifteen years of working for other companies, Fossett founded his own firms, Marathon Securities and Lakota Trading, from which he made millions renting exchange memberships.{{cite news

|title = Rescuers to Resume Search for Plane Carrying Aviation Adventurer Steve Fossett

|publisher = Fox News

|url = https://www.foxnews.com/story/rescuers-to-resume-search-for-plane-carrying-aviation-adventurer-steve-fossett

|access-date = September 7, 2007

|date = September 5, 2007

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070906131706/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,295714,00.html

|archive-date = September 6, 2007

|url-status = live

|df = mdy-all

}} He founded Lakota Trading for that purpose in 1980.{{cite news

|last = Mihelich

|first = Peggy

|title = Adventure defines Steve Fossett

|publisher = CNN

|date = September 4, 2007

|url = http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/09/04/fossett.profile/index.html

|access-date = September 7, 2007

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071203165326/http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/09/04/fossett.profile/index.html

|archive-date = December 3, 2007

|url-status = live

|df = mdy-all

}} In the early 1980s, he founded Marathon Securities and extended that successful formula to memberships on the New York stock exchanges. He earned millions renting floor trading privileges (exchange memberships) to hopeful new floor traders, who also paid clearing fees to Fossett's clearing firms in proportion to the trading activity of those renting the memberships. In 1997, the trading volume of its rented memberships was larger than any other clearing firm on the Chicago exchange. Lakota Trading replicated that same business plan on many exchanges in the United States and also in London. Fossett later used those revenues to finance his adventures. Fossett said, "As a floor trader, I was very aggressive and worked hard. Those same traits help me in adventure sports."

Fossett said he did not participate in any of the "interesting things" he had done in college during his time in exchange-related activities: "There was a period of time where I wasn't doing anything except working for a living. I became very frustrated with that and finally made up my mind to start getting back into things." He began to take six weeks a year off to spend time on sports and moved to Beaver Creek, Colorado in 1990. Fossett later sold most of his business interests,{{cite web

|title=Rich Roberts Reports

|publisher=yachtracing.com

|url=http://www.yachtracing.com/richroberts/fossett02.html

|access-date=September 7, 2007

|url-status=dead

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929201527/http://www.yachtracing.com/richroberts/fossett02.html

|archive-date=September 29, 2007

}} although he maintained an office in Chicago until 2006.

In 1968, Fossett married Peggy Fossett (née Viehland), who was originally from Richmond Heights, Missouri. They had no children.{{cite magazine

|last = Fiorino

|first = Frances

|title = Advanced Recon System Aids Fossett Search

|magazine = Aviation Week

|date = September 6, 2007

|url = http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story.jsp?id=news/Foss09067.xml&headline=Advanced%20Recon%20System%20Aids%20Fossett%20Search&channel=null

|access-date = September 6, 2007

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070927013202/http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story.jsp?id=news%2FFoss09067.xml&headline=Advanced%20Recon%20System%20Aids%20Fossett%20Search&channel=null

|archive-date = September 27, 2007

|url-status = live

|df = mdy-all

}} The Fossetts had homes in Beaver Creek, Colorado and Chicago, and a vacation home in Carmel, California. Fossett was friends with billionaire Richard Branson, whose Virgin Group sponsored some of Fossett's adventures.

File:Globalflyer landing cropped.jpg arriving at Kennedy Space Center in 2006, piloted by Fossett]]

Steve Fossett was well known for his world records and adventures in balloons, sailboats, gliders, and powered aircraft. He was an aviator of exceptional breadth of experience. He wanted to become the first person to achieve a solo balloon flight around the world (finally succeeding on his sixth attempt, in 2002, becoming the first person to complete an uninterrupted and unrefueled solo circumnavigation of the world in any kind of aircraft). He set, with co-pilot Terry Delore, 10 of the 21 Glider Open records, including the first 2,000 km Out-and-Return, the first 1,500 km Triangle and the longest Straight Distance flights. His achievements as a jet pilot in a Cessna Citation X include records for U.S. Transcontinental, Australia Transcontinental, and Round-the-World westbound non-supersonic flights.{{cite journal | title=Fossett Sets Another World Record | journal=Eagletter|date=Fall 2006 |volume=32 |issue=2 |pages= 11}} Prior to Fossett's aviation records, no pilot had held world records in more than one class of aircraft; Fossett held them in four classes.

In 2005, Fossett made the first solo, nonstop unrefueled circumnavigation of the world in an airplane, in 67 hours in the Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer, a single-engine jet aircraft.

In 2006, he again circumnavigated the globe nonstop and unrefueled in 76 hours, 45 minutes in the GlobalFlyer, setting the record for the longest flight by any aircraft in history with a distance of 25,766 statute miles (41,467 km).

He set 91 aviation world records ratified by Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, of which 36 stand,{{cite web

|title=List of records established by 'Steve Fossett (USA)'

|work=History of Aviation and Space World Records

|publisher=Fédération Aéronautique Internationale

|url=http://records.fai.org/pilot.asp?from=ga&id=1372

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020829070814/http://records.fai.org/pilot.asp?from=ga&id=1372

|url-status=dead

|archive-date=August 29, 2002

|access-date=June 5, 2009

}} plus 23 sailing world records ratified by the World Sailing Speed Record Council.

On August 29, 2006, he set the world altitude record for gliders over El Calafate, Argentina at {{convert|15460|m|ft}}.{{cite web|url=http://records.fai.org/gliding/current.asp?id1=DO&id2=1 |title=Gliding World Records |date=March 11, 2008 |publisher=Fédération Aéronautique Internationale |quote=Absolute altitude: 15 460 m, Date of flight: 29/08/2006, Pilot: Steve Fossett (USA), Crew: Einar Enevoldson (USA), Course/place: El Calafate (Argentina), Glider: Glaser-Dirks DG-505, Registered 'N577SF' |access-date=November 2, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080311011917/http://records.fai.org/gliding/current.asp?id1=DO&id2=1 |archive-date=March 11, 2008 }}

File:Spirit-of-Freedom-Ballon.jpg balloon gondola on display at the National Air and Space Museum]]

On February 21, 1995, Fossett landed in Leader, Saskatchewan, Canada, after taking off from South Korea, becoming the first person to make a solo flight across the Pacific Ocean in a balloon.{{cite news

|title = Aviation Adventurer Steve Fossett Missing

|work = CBS News

|url = https://www.cbsnews.com/news/aviation-adventurer-steve-fossett-missing/

|access-date = March 13, 2010

|date = September 4, 2007

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090425194710/http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/09/04/national/main3231260.shtml?source=RSSattr=HOME_3231260

|archive-date = April 25, 2009

|url-status = live

|df = mdy-all

}}

In 2002, he became the first person to fly around the world alone, nonstop in any kind of aircraft. He launched the 10-story high balloon Spirit of Freedom from Northam, Western Australia on June 19, 2002 and returned to Australia on July 3, 2002, subsequently landing in Queensland. Duration and distance of this solo balloon flight was 13 days, 8 hours, 33 minutes (14 days 19 hours 50 minutes to landing), 20,626.48 statute miles (33,195.10 km). The balloon dragged him along the ground for 20 minutes at the end of the flight. Only the capsule survived the landing; it was taken to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., where it was displayed.{{cite web|url=https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/capsule-balloon|title=Capsule, Balloon / Bud Light Spirit of Freedom Capsule|publisher=Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum|location=Washington, DC|access-date=October 2, 2008|work=Collections Database|archive-date=June 9, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200609213334/https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/bud-light-spirit-of-freedom-capsule/nasm_A20030128000|url-status=dead}} The control center for the mission was in Brookings Hall at Washington University in St. Louis.{{cite web

|url=http://record.wustl.edu/2002/09-13-02/fossett.html

|title=Students, Fossett present capsule to Smithsonian

|access-date=January 8, 2009

|work=The Record

|location=St. Louis, Missouri

|url-status=dead

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080705164519/http://record.wustl.edu/2002/09-13-02/fossett.html

|archive-date=July 5, 2008

}}

Fossett's top speed during the flight was {{convert|186|mi/h|km/h}} over the Indian Ocean. The trip set a number of records for ballooning: Fastest ({{convert|200|mph|km/h|sigfig=2}}, breaking his own previous record of {{convert|166|mph|km/h|sigfig=2}}), Fastest Around the World (13.5 days), Longest Distance Flown Solo in a Balloon ({{convert|20482.26|mi|km}}), and 24-Hour Balloon Distance ({{convert|3186.80|mi|km}} on July 1).{{Cite web |url=https://www.nationalaviation.org/our-enshrinees/fossett-steve/ |title=National Aviation Hall of Fame |access-date=January 20, 2019 |archive-date=December 7, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201207200601/https://www.nationalaviation.org/our-enshrinees/fossett-steve/ |url-status=dead }}

While Fossett had financed five previous tries himself, his successful record-setting flight was sponsored by Bud Light. In the end, Fossett actually made money on all his balloon flights. He bought a contingency insurance policy for $500,000 that would pay him $3 million if he succeeded in the flight. Along with sponsorship, that payment meant that in the end Fossett did not have to spend any of his money other than for initial expenses.

Fossett was one of sailing's most prolific distance record holders. Speed sailing was his specialty and from 1993 to 2004 he dominated the record sheets, setting 23 official world records and nine distance race records. He is recognized by the World Sailing Speed Record Council as "the world's most accomplished speed sailor".

On the maxi-catamaran Cheyenne (formerly named PlayStation), Fossett twice set the prestigious 24 Hour Record of Sailing. In October 2001, Fossett and his crew set a transatlantic record of 4 days 17 hours, shattering the previous record by 43 hours 35 minutes; an increase in average speed of nearly seven knots.

In early 2004, Fossett, as skipper, set the Around the world sailing record of 58 days, 9 hours in Cheyenne with a crew of 13. In 2007, Fossett held the world record for crossing the Pacific Ocean in his {{convert|125|ft|m|adj=on}} sailboat, the PlayStation, which he accomplished on his fourth try.

Complete Summary of Sailing Records{{Cite web|url=http://www.stevefossett.com/html/main_pages/records.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110825083223/http://www.stevefossett.com/html/main_pages/records.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=August 25, 2011|title=Steve Fossett Challenges (archived 5 August 2011)|website=stevefossett.com}} Website permanently discontinued

13 Outright World Records:

• Round Ireland 44 h 42 min 20 s Sep 1993
• Hawaii-Japan 13 d 20 h 9 min July-Aug 1995
• Pacific Ocean East to West 16 d 17 h 21 min Aug 1995
• Newport-Bermuda 1 d 14 h 35 min 53 s Jan 2000
• Miami-New York 2 d 5 h 54 min 42 s May 2001
• TransAtlantic 4 d 17 h 28 min 6 s (25.78 kn) Oct 2001
• Isle of Wight 2 h 33 min 55 s Nov 2001
• Fastnet Course 35 h 17 min 14 s Mar 2002
• Plymouth-LaRochelle 16 h 41 min 40 s Apr 2002
• TransMed (Marseilles-Carthage) 18 h 46 min 48 s May 2002
• Round Britain & Ireland 4 d 16 h 9 min 36 s Oct 2002
• TransAt-Discovery Route 9 d 13 h 30 min 18 s Feb 2003
• Round the World 58 d 9 h 32 min 45 s Feb-April 2004

2 Singlehanded World Records:

• Pacific Ocean (Yokohama-SF)-World 20 d 9 h 52 min Aug 1996
• Newport-Bermuda-World 40 h 51 min 54 s Jun 1999

9 Race Records:

• Long Beach-Cabo San Lucas 3 d 2 h 59 min Nov 1995
• Swiftsure 14 h 35 min 29 s May 1997
• Windjammers (SF-Santa Cruz) 4 h 41 min 2 s Aug 1997
• San Diego-Puerto Vallarta 62 h 20 min 11 s Feb 1998
• Newport-Ensenada 6 h 46 min 40 s (18.45 kn) Apr 1998
• Chicago-Mackinac 18 h 50 min 32 s Jul 1998
• Pineapple Cup (Ft Lauderdale-Montego Bay) 2 d 20 h 8 min 5 s Feb 1999
• Round St. Martin (Heineken) 2 h 4 min 23 s Mar 2003

Singlehanded Race Record:

• California-Hawaii (Singlehanded Transpac) – Race 7 d 22 h 38 min July 1998

World Records set but later beaten:

• Isle of Wight 3 h 35 min 38 s Sep 1994
• Round Britain & Ireland 5 d 21 h 5 min 27 s Oct 1994
• Transpac 6 d 16 h 7 min 16 s July 1995
• Pacific Ocean Record (Crewed) 16 d 17 h 21 min 19 s Aug 1995
• 24 Hour Record 580.23 nmi (24.18 kn) Mar 1999
• 24 Hour Record 687.17 nmi (28.63 kn) Oct 2001
• Cowes-St. Malo 6 h 21 min 54 s Dec 2001

At the time of his death a submarine, DeepFlight Challenger, was under construction to enable Fossett to be the first solo submariner to reach the Challenger Deep.KGO-TV ABC 7, [https://abc7news.com/archive/6429493/ "Fossett's secret project was built in Richmond"], October 2, 2008 (accessed March 27, 2012)

Fossett set the Absolute World Speed Record for airships on October 27, 2004. The new record for fastest flight was accomplished with a Zeppelin NT, at a recorded average speed of {{convert|62.2|kn|km/h mph}}. The previous record was {{convert|50.1|kn|km/h mph}} set in 2001 in a Virgin airship. In 2006, Fossett was one of only 17 pilots in the world licensed to fly the Zeppelin.

File:Steve Fossett in GlobalFlyer cockpit 1.jpg seated in the GlobalFlyer cockpit]]

File:Fossett before globalflyer flight cropped.jpg

Fossett made the first solo nonstop unrefueled fixed-wing aircraft flight around the world between February 28 and March 3, 2005. He took off from Salina, Kansas, where he was assisted by faculty members and students from Kansas State University, and flew eastbound with the prevailing winds, returning to Salina after 67 hours, 1 minute, 10 seconds, without refueling or making intermediate landings. His average speed of {{convert|342.2|mph|km/h|abbr=on}} was also the absolute world record for "speed around the world, nonstop and non-refueled." His aircraft, the Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer, had a carbon fiber reinforced plastic airframe with a single Williams FJ44 turbofan engine. It was designed and built by Burt Rutan and his company, Scaled Composites, for long-distance solo flight. The fuel fraction, the weight of the fuel divided by the weight of the aircraft at take-off, was 83 percent.[https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna11279696 Fossett sets record for longest nonstop flight] February 11, 2006[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4316599.stm "Fossett sets solo flight record"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051106083126/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4316599.stm |date=November 6, 2005 }} – BBC News article dated March 3, 2005[http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/03/03/globalflyer.fossett/ "Fossett makes history"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050305031740/http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/03/03/globalflyer.fossett/ |date=March 5, 2005 }} – CNN.com article dated March 4, 2005

On February 11, 2006, Fossett set the absolute world record for "distance without landing" by flying from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, around the world eastbound, then upon returning to Florida continuing across the Atlantic a second time to land in Bournemouth, England. The official distance was 25,766 statute miles (41,467 km) and the duration was 76 hours 45 minutes.

The next month, Fossett made a third flight around the world in order to break the absolute record for "Distance over a closed circuit without landing" (with takeoff and landing at the same airport). He took off from Salina, Kansas on March 14, 2006 and returned on March 17, 2006 after flying 25,262 statute miles (40,655 km).

There are only seven absolute world records for fixed-wing aircraft recognized by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale and Fossett broke three of them in the Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer.{{cite web|url=http://records.fai.org/general_aviation/absolute.asp |title=Current Absolute General Aviation World Records |publisher=Records.fai.org |access-date=July 18, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100628225432/http://records.fai.org/general_aviation/absolute.asp |archive-date=June 28, 2010}} All three records were previously held by Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager from their flight in the Voyager in 1986. Fossett contributed the GlobalFlyer to the Smithsonian Institution's permanent collection.{{cite web

|title = Adventurer Steve Fossett No Stranger to Tall Odds

|website = NPR.org

|publisher = NPR

|url = https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14176484&ft=1&f=3

|access-date = September 7, 2007

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071224173434/http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14176484&ft=1&f=3

|archive-date = December 24, 2007

|url-status = live

|df = mdy-all

}} It is on display at the Udvar-Hazy Center of the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum.{{cite web

|url=http://www.nasm.si.edu/events/pressroom/releaseDetail.cfm?releaseID=153

|title=National Air and Space Museum to Welcome Steve Fossett's History-Making Airplane for Permanent Display at Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center

|access-date=October 2, 2008

|date=May 19, 2006

|work=Press Room

|publisher=Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum

|location=Washington, DC

|url-status=dead

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090407111749/http://www.nasm.si.edu/events/pressroom/releaseDetail.cfm?releaseID=153

|archive-date=April 7, 2009

}} Fossett flew the plane to the Center and taxied the plane to the front door.{{cite web

|url=http://www.airportjournals.com/Display.cfm?varID=0611030

|title=Steve Fossett: Always 'Scouting for New Adventures' Part 2

|access-date=October 2, 2008

|author=Di Freeze

|date=November 2006

|work=Airport Journals

|location=US

|quote=I had permission to do a low pass over the airport, and then I came around, landed and taxied up to the door of the museum and gave it to them.

|url-status=dead

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707100819/http://www.airportjournals.com/Display.cfm?varID=0611030

|archive-date=July 7, 2011

}}

Fossett set two U.S. transcontinental fixed-wing aircraft records in the same day. On February 5, 2003, Fossett and co-pilot Doug Travis flew his Cessna Citation X jet from San Diego, California to Charleston, South Carolina in 2 hours, 56 minutes, 20 seconds, at an average speed of {{convert|726.83|mph|km/h|abbr=on}} to smash the transcontinental record for non-supersonic jets.{{Cite web |title=RAI Jets Adds Steve Fossett's Citation X To Charter Fleet {{!}} Aviation Week Network |url=https://aviationweek.com/rai-jets-adds-steve-fossetts-citation-x-charter-fleet |access-date=2024-03-14 |website=aviationweek.com}}{{Cite web |date=2017-10-10 |title=Steve Fossett (USA) (7619) {{!}} World Air Sports Federation |url=https://www.fai.org/record/7619 |access-date=2024-03-14 |website=www.fai.org |language=en}}

He returned to San Diego, then flew the same course as co-pilot for fellow adventurer Joe Ritchie in Ritchie's turboprop Piaggio Avanti. Their time was 3 hours, 51 minutes, 52 seconds, an average speed of {{convert|546.44|mph|km/h|abbr=on}}, which broke the previous turboprop transcontinental record held by Chuck Yeager and Renald Davenport.{{Cite web |last=Staff |first=A. I. N. |title=Piaggio gets confirmation of Avanti speed records {{!}} AIN |url=https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/aviation-international-news/2008-08-04/piaggio-gets-confirmation-avanti-speed-records |access-date=2024-03-14 |website=Aviation International News}}{{Cite web |date=2017-10-10 |title=Joseph J. Ritchie (USA) (7631) {{!}} World Air Sports Federation |url=https://www.fai.org/record/7631 |access-date=2024-03-14 |website=www.fai.org |language=en}}

Fossett also set the east-to-west transcontinental record for non-supersonic fixed-wing aircraft on September 17, 2000. He flew from Jacksonville, Florida to San Diego, California in 3 hours, 29 minutes, at an average speed of {{convert|591.96|mph|km/h|abbr=on}}.{{Cite web |date=2017-10-10 |title=Steve Fossett (USA) (6721) {{!}} World Air Sports Federation |url=https://www.fai.org/record/6721 |access-date=2024-03-14 |website=www.fai.org |language=en}}

On July 2, 2005, Fossett and co-pilot Mark Rebholz recreated the first nonstop crossing of the Atlantic which was made by the British team of John Alcock and Arthur Whitten Brown in June 1919 in a Vickers Vimy biplane. Their flight from St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada to Clifden, County Galway, Ireland in the open cockpit Vickers Vimy replica took 18 hours 25 minutes with 13 hours flown in instrument flight conditions. Because there was no airport in Clifden, Fossett and Rebholz landed on the 8th fairway of the Connemara Golf Links.

The team of Steve Fossett and Terry Delore (NZ) set ten official world records in gliders while flying in three major locations: New Zealand, Argentina, and Nevada, United States. An asterisk (*) indicates records subsequently broken by other pilots.

• 1,000 km Out-and-Return World Record* {{convert|166.46|km/h|mph|abbr=on}}, December 12, 2002.{{cite web

|title=Gliding World Records: Sub-class DO (Open Class Gliders) Speed over an out-and-return course of 1,000 km

|work=History of Aviation and Space World Records

|publisher=Fédération Aéronautique Internationale

|url=http://records.fai.org/gliding/history.asp?id1=DO&id2=1&id3=410

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020907201121/http://records.fai.org/gliding/history.asp?id1=DO&id2=1&id3=410

|url-status=dead

|archive-date=September 7, 2002

|access-date=November 16, 2007

}}

• 750 Kilometer Triangle World Record* {{convert|171.29|km/h|mph|abbr=on}}, July 29, 2003.{{cite web

|title=Gliding World Records: Sub-class DO (Open Class Gliders) Speed over a triangular course of 750 km

|work=History of Aviation and Space World Records

|publisher=Fédération Aéronautique Internationale

|url=http://records.fai.org/gliding/history.asp?id1=DO&id2=1&id3=93

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030526071125/http://records.fai.org/gliding/history.asp?id1=DO&id2=1&id3=93

|url-status=dead

|archive-date=May 26, 2003

|access-date=November 16, 2007

}}

• 1,250 Kilometer Triangle U.S. National Record {{convert|143.48|km/h|mph|abbr=on}}, July 30, 2003. Exceeded world record by 0.01 km/h.{{cite web

|title=Gliding World Records: Sub-class DO (Open Class Gliders) Speed over a triangular course of 1250 km

|work=History of Aviation and Space World Records

|publisher=Fédération Aéronautique Internationale

|url=http://records.fai.org/gliding/history.asp?id1=DO&id2=1&id3=95

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020903034910/http://records.fai.org/gliding/history.asp?id1=DO&id2=1&id3=95

|url-status=dead

|archive-date=September 3, 2002

|access-date=November 16, 2007

}}

• 1,500 km Out-and-Return World Record* {{convert|156.61|km/h|mph|abbr=on}}, November 14, 2003.{{cite web

|title=Gliding World Records: Sub-class DO (Open Class Gliders) Speed over an out-and-return course of 1500 km

|work=History of Aviation and Space World Records

|publisher=Fédération Aéronautique Internationale

|url=http://records.fai.org/gliding/history.asp?id1=DO&id2=1&id3=411

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020907100403/http://records.fai.org/gliding/history.asp?id1=DO&id2=1&id3=411

|url-status=dead

|archive-date=September 7, 2002

|access-date=November 16, 2007

}}

• Out-and-Return Distance (Declared) World Record* 1,804.7 km, November 14, 2003.
• Out and Return Distance (Free) World Record* 2,002.44 km, November 14, 2003.{{cite web

|title=Gliding World Records: Sub-class DO (Open Class Gliders) Free out-and-return distance

|work=History of Aviation and Space World Records

|publisher=Fédération Aéronautique Internationale

|url=http://records.fai.org/gliding/history.asp?id1=DO&id2=1&id3=391

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020907084642/http://records.fai.org/gliding/history.asp?id1=DO&id2=1&id3=391

|url-status=dead

|archive-date=September 7, 2002

|access-date=November 16, 2007

}}

• 500 Kilometer Triangle World Record* {{convert|187.12|km/h|mph|abbr=on}}, November 15, 2003.{{cite web

|title=Gliding World Records: Sub-class DO (Open Class Gliders) Speed over a triangular course of 500 km

|work=History of Aviation and Space World Records

|publisher=Fédération Aéronautique Internationale

|url=http://records.fai.org/gliding/history.asp?id1=DO&id2=1&id3=92

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020907201105/http://records.fai.org/gliding/history.asp?id1=DO&id2=1&id3=92

|url-status=dead

|archive-date=September 7, 2002

|access-date=November 16, 2007

}}

• 1,500 Kilometer Triangle World Record {{convert|119.11|km/h|mph|abbr=on}}, December 13, 2003.{{cite web

|title=Gliding World Records: Sub-class DO (Open Class Gliders) Speed over a triangular course of 1500 km

|work=History of Aviation and Space World Records

|publisher=Fédération Aéronautique Internationale

|url=http://records.fai.org/gliding/history.asp?id1=DO&id2=1&id3=96

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041123221306/http://records.fai.org/gliding/history.asp?id1=DO&id3=96&id2=1

|url-status=dead

|archive-date=November 23, 2004

|access-date=November 16, 2007

}}

• Triangle Distance (Declared) World Record* 1,502.6 km, December 13, 2003.
• Triangle Distance (Free) World Record* 1,509.7 km, December 13, 2003.{{cite web

|title=Gliding World Records: Sub-class DO (Open Class Gliders) Distance over a triangular course

|work=History of Aviation and Space World Records

|publisher=Fédération Aéronautique Internationale

|url=http://records.fai.org/gliding/history.asp?id1=DO&id2=1&id3=16

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020907102009/http://records.fai.org/gliding/history.asp?id1=DO&id2=1&id3=16

|url-status=dead

|archive-date=September 7, 2002

|access-date=November 16, 2007

}}

• Distance (Free) World Record 2,192.9 km, December 4, 2004.{{cite web

|title=Gliding World Records: Sub-class DO (Open Class Gliders) Free Distance

|work=History of Aviation and Space World Records

|publisher=Fédération Aéronautique Internationale

|url=http://records.fai.org/gliding/history.asp?id1=DO&id2=1&id3=420

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020907201011/http://records.fai.org/gliding/history.asp?id1=DO&id2=1&id3=420

|url-status=dead

|archive-date=September 7, 2002

|access-date=November 16, 2007

}}

Fossett and co-pilot Einar Enevoldson flew a glider into the stratosphere on August 29, 2006. The flight set the Absolute Altitude Record for gliders at {{convert|15460|m|ft}}.{{cite web

|title=Gliding World Records: Sub-class DO (Open Class Gliders) Absolute altitude

|work=History of Aviation and Space World Records

|publisher=Fédération Aéronautique Internationale

|url=http://records.fai.org/gliding/history.asp?id1=DO&id2=1&id3=98

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050219015448/http://records.fai.org/gliding/history.asp?id1=DO&id2=1&id3=98

|url-status=dead

|archive-date=February 19, 2005

|access-date=November 16, 2007

}} Since the glider cockpit was unpressurized, the pilots wore full pressure suits (similar to space suits) so that they would be able to fly to altitudes above {{convert|45000|ft|m}}. Fossett and Enevoldson had made previous attempts in three countries over a period of five years before finally succeeding with this record flight. This endeavor is known as the Perlan Project.

As a young adventurer, Fossett was one of the first participants in the Worldloppet, a series of cross-country ski marathons around the world. While he had little experience as a skier, he was in the first group of 'citizen athletes' to participate in the series debut in 1979. And in 1980, he became the eighth skier to complete all 10 of the long distance races, earning a Worldloppet medallion. He has also set cross-country skiing records in Colorado, setting an Aspen to Vail record of 59 h, 53 min, 30 s in February 1998, and an Aspen to Eagle record of 12 hr, 29 min in February 2001.

Fossett was a lifelong mountain climber and had climbed the highest peaks on six of the seven continents. In the 1980s, he became friends with Patrick Morrow, who was attempting to climb the highest peaks on all seven continents for the "Seven Summits" world record, which Morrow achieved in 1985. Fossett accompanied Morrow for his last three peaks, including Vinson Massif in Antarctica, Carstensz Pyramid in Oceania, and Elbrus in Europe. While Fossett went on to climb almost all of the Seven Summits peaks himself, he declined to climb Mount Everest in 1992 due to asthma. He later returned to Antarctica to climb again.

Fossett competed in and completed premier endurance sports events, including the {{convert|1165|mi|km|adj=on}} Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, in which he finished 47th on his second try in 1992 after training for five years. He became the 270th person to swim across the English Channel on his fourth try in September 1985 with a time of 22 hours, 15 minutes. Although Fossett said he was not a good enough swimmer "to make the varsity swim team", he found that he could swim for long periods. Fossett competed in the Ironman Triathlon in Hawaii (finishing in 1996 in 15:53:10),{{cite web

|url=http://ironman.com/assets/files/results/worldchampionship/1996.htm

|title=1996 Ironman Triathlon World Championship

|access-date=September 7, 2007

|url-status=dead

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927173557/http://ironman.com/assets/files/results/worldchampionship/1996.htm

|archive-date=September 27, 2007

}} the Boston Marathon, and the Leadville Trail 100, a {{convert|100|mi|km|adj=on}} Colorado ultramarathon which involves running up to elevations of more than {{convert|12,600|ft|m}} in the Rocky Mountains.

Fossett raced cars in the mid-1970s and later returned to the sport in the 1990s. He competed in the 24 hours of Le Mans road race in 1993 and in 1996, along with the Dakar Rally.

File:Balloon crash Hawaii.jpg and Per Lindstrand ends in the Pacific Ocean on December 25]]

Fossett tried six times over seven years for the first solo balloon circumnavigation. His fifth attempt cost him $1.25 million of his own money; his sixth and successful attempt was commercially sponsored. Two of the attempts were launched from Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri. Washington University in St. Louis served as control center for four of the six flights, including the record-breaking one.

In 1998, one of the unsuccessful attempts at the ballooning record ended with a five-mile (8 km) plummet into the Coral Sea off the coast of Australia that nearly killed Fossett; he waited 72 hours to be rescued, at a cost of $500,000.{{cite web

|title = What did Steve Fossett do for us?

|publisher = Knight-Ridder

|url = http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-120230678.html

|access-date = September 8, 2007

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121021203659/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-120230678.html

|archive-date = October 21, 2012

|url-status = dead

|df = mdy-all

}}{{cite web

|title = Steve Fossett Breaks Ballooning World Record

|work = CBS News

|url = http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-54087549.html

|access-date = September 8, 2007

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121021203810/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-54087549.html

|archive-date = October 21, 2012

|url-status = dead

|df = mdy-all

}} The first attempt began in the Black Hills of South Dakota and ended outside Hampton, New Brunswick {{convert|1800|mi|km}} later. The second attempt, launched from Busch Stadium, cost $300,000 and lasted {{convert|9600|mi|km}} before being downed halfway in a tree in India; the trip set records at the time for duration and distance of flight (with Fossett doubling his own previous record) and was called Solo Spirit after Lindbergh's Spirit of St. Louis. Fossett slept an average of two hours a night for the six-day journey, conducted in below-zero temperatures. After taking too much fuel to cross the Atlantic Ocean and circling Libya for 12 hours while officials decided whether or not to allow him into their airspace, Fossett did not have enough fuel to finish the flight. That year, Fossett flew farther for less money than better-financed expeditions (including one supported by Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson) in part due to his ability to fly in an unpressurized capsule, a result of his heavy physical training at high altitudes. The Solo Spirit capsule was put on display at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum across from the Apollo 11 command module.

File:Spirit of America Sonic Arrow Wings Over the Rockies 2023.jpg]]

In 2006, Fossett purchased the Formula Shell LSRV Spirit of America from former land speed record holder Craig Breedlove. He rechristened the vehicle the Spirit of America Sonic Arrow and set about making improvements to the vehicle to break the land speed record. Fossett was initially unable to break even {{convert|675|mph}} with the vehicle but eventually hoped to raise its top speed to {{convert|800|mph}} and even {{convert|900|mph}}. After his disappearance and death, his team's efforts continued until 2008. The vehicle was put up for auction in 2010.{{cite news |title=Steve Fossett's 900 mph Jet-Powered Car on Sale for $3 Million |url=https://www.foxnews.com/tech/steve-fossetts-900-mph-jet-powered-car-on-sale-for-3-million |access-date=12 December 2023 |work=Fox News |date=7 October 2010}}

Fossett grew up in Garden Grove, California and earned the Eagle Scout award in 1957. He credited his experience in Scouting as a foundation for much of his later success. "As a Scout, I learned how to set goals and achieve them," he once said. "Being a Scout also taught me leadership at a young age when there are few opportunities to be a leader. Scouting values have remained with me throughout my life, in my business career, and now as I take on new challenges." In his later years, he was described as a "legend" by fellow Scouts. As a national BSA volunteer, he served as Chairman of the Northern Tier High Adventure Committee, Chairman of the Venturing Committee, member of the Philmont Ranch Committee, and member of the National Advisory Council. He later became a member of the BSA National Executive Board, and in 2007, Fossett succeeded Secretary of Defense Robert Gates as president of the National Eagle Scout Association. Fossett previously had served on the World Scout Committee.

Fossett was honored with the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award in 1992. In 1999, he received the Silver Buffalo Award, BSA's highest recognition of service to youth.

In 2002, Fossett received aviation's highest award, the Gold Medal of the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) and in July 2007, he was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame. He was presented at the ceremony by Dick Rutan.

In 1997, Fossett was inducted into the Balloon and Airship Hall of Fame. In February 2002, Fossett was named America's Rolex Yachtsman of the Year by the American Sailing Association at the New York Yacht Club. He was the oldest recipient of the award in its 41-year history, and the only recipient to fly himself to the ceremony in his own plane.

He received the Explorers Medal from the Explorers Club following his solo balloon circumnavigation. He was given the Diplôme de Montgolfier by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale in 1996. He received the Harmon Trophy, given annually "to the world's outstanding aviator and aeronaut", in 1998 and 2002. He received the Grande Médaille of the Aéro-Club de France, and the British Royal Aero Club's Gold Medal in 2002. He received the Order of Magellan and the French Republic's Médaille de l'Aéronautique in 2003.

The White Knight Two VMS Spirit of Steve Fossett{{cite magazine |url=http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1670216,00.html |title=My Friend, Steve Fossett |access-date=December 20, 2007 |magazine=Time |first=Richard |last=Branson |date=October 10, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071213205333/http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1670216,00.html |archive-date=December 13, 2007 |url-status=dead }} was named in Fossett's honor by his friend Richard Branson in late 2007.{{cite news |url=http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/10/11/the-legend-of-steve-fossett-takes-root/index.html?ex=1349841600&en=45eab0da4e07992c&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss |title=The Legend of Steve Fossett Takes Root |access-date=December 20, 2007 |newspaper=New York Times |first=Mike |last=Nizza |date=October 11, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071212225855/http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/10/11/the-legend-of-steve-fossett-takes-root/index.html?ex=1349841600&en=45eab0da4e07992c&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss |archive-date=December 12, 2007 }}{{cite web |first=Ari |last=Burack |url=http://www.sanfranciscosentinel.com/?p=5903 |title=Sir Richard Branson... |access-date=February 28, 2008 |publisher=San Francisco Sentinel |date=October 10, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080709114603/http://www.sanfranciscosentinel.com/?p=5903 |archive-date=July 9, 2008 |url-status=live }} Following his disappearance, Peggy Fossett and Dick Rutan accepted the Spread Wings Award on Fossett's behalf at the 2007 Spreading Wings Gala, Wings Over the Rockies Air and Space Museum, Denver, Colorado.[http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5738392,00.html Rocky Mountain News: Missing aviator Steve Fossett honored at Wings Over Rockies] by Tillie Fong, November 3, 2007. Retrieved February 16, 2008. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081005174625/http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5738392,00.html |date=October 5, 2008 }}

In 2010, Fossett was inducted into the International Air & Space Hall of Fame at the San Diego Air & Space Museum.Sprekelmeyer, Linda, editor. These We Honor: The International Aerospace Hall of Fame. Donning Co. Publishers, 2006. {{ISBN|978-1-57864-397-4}}.

File:Champion 8kcab super decathlon g-ezpz arp.jpg, similar to the plane Fossett was flying during his disappearance]]

At 8:45 a.m. on the morning of Monday, September 3, 2007, Fossett took off in a single-engine Champion 8KCAB Super Decathlon light aircraft from the Flying-M Ranch private airstrip, near Smith Valley, Nevada. When he failed to return, searches were launched about six hours later. There was no signal from the plane's emergency locator transmitter (ELT) designed to be automatically activated in the event of a crash, but it was of an older type notorious for failing to operate after a crash.(1) {{cite news |url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-09-05-fossett_N.htm?csp=34 |title=Fossett search stresses need for new beacons |access-date=September 8, 2007 |author=Levin, Alan |date=September 6, 2007 |work=USA Today |publisher=Gannett |quote=The small plane piloted by Fossett, 63, was equipped with an older emergency beacon that is notorious for failing to operate after crashes, according to federal safety officials and the agencies that monitor the emergency beacons. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070907070814/http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-09-05-fossett_N.htm?csp=34|archive-date=September 7, 2007 |url-status=live}}
(2) {{cite news|last= Hildebrand|first=Kurt|title=Searchers looking for world record holder Steve Fossett|publisher=The Record-Courier|date=September 4, 2007|url=http://www.recordcourier.com/article/20070904/NEWS/70904002|access-date= September 4, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070914060043/http://www.recordcourier.com/article/20070904/NEWS/70904002|archive-date=September 14, 2007|url-status=live|df=mdy-all}}

It was first thought that Fossett may have also been wearing a Breitling Emergency watch with a manually operated ELT that had a range of up to {{convert|90|mi|km}}, but no signal was received from it. On September 13, Fossett's wife, Peggy, issued a statement clarifying that he owned such a watch but was not wearing it when he took off for the Labor Day flight.{{cite news |url= http://edition.cnn.com/2007/US/09/13/fossett/index.html?iref=mpstoryview |title= Search for Fossett could solve decades-old mysteries |access-date= September 13, 2007 |date= September 13, 2007 |publisher= CNN |quote= Fossett's wife, Peggy, issued a statement Thursday in response to questions about whether her husband was wearing a watch with an emergency transmitter on his flight. She said he owned such a Breitling watch but did not bring it on the trip. |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20071008104837/http://edition.cnn.com/2007/US/09/13/fossett/index.html?iref=mpstoryview |archive-date= October 8, 2007 |url-status= live |df= mdy-all }}

{{Location map+|USA Nevada|float=left|width=250|caption=Search area on the borders of California and Nevada|places={{Location map~|USA Nevada|lon_dir=W|lat_dir=N|lat_deg=38|lat_min=36|lon_deg=119|lon_min=0|label=Flying-M Ranch|position=top}}{{Location map~|USA Nevada|lon_dir=W|lat_dir=N|lat_deg=38|lat_min=12|lon_deg=119|lon_min=0|label=Bodie Hills}}{{Location map~|USA Nevada|lon_dir=W|lat_dir=N|lat_deg=37|lat_min=50|lon_deg=119|lon_min=30|label=Yosemite National Park}}{{Location map~|USA Nevada|lon_dir=W|lat_dir=N|lat_deg=37|lat_min=40|lon_deg=119|lon_min=08|label=Crash site identified in 2008|position=bottom}}}}

Fossett took off with enough fuel for four to five hours of flight, according to spokesperson Major Cynthia S. Ryan, Public Information Officer with the Civil Air Patrol (CAP).{{cite news|title=Aviation record-holder Steve Fossett missing|publisher= CNN|date=September 4, 2007|url=http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/09/04/fossett.missing/index.html|access-date=September 4, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071012001023/http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/09/04/fossett.missing/index.html|archive-date = October 12, 2007|url-status=live|df= mdy-all}} Searchers with CAP were told that Fossett had gone out for a short flight, possibly including the areas of Lucky Boy Pass and Walker Lake. CAP Major Cynthia Ryan suggested that he might have been out scouting for potential sites to conduct a planned land speed run, though Fossett's wife said the flight was a pleasure trip.{{cite news |title=Fossett team to try to break speed record |url=https://www.reviewjournal.com/news/fossett-team-to-try-to-break-speed-record/ |access-date=13 December 2023 |work=Las Vegas Review-Journal |date=13 December 2007}} Fossett apparently did not file a flight plan and was not required to do so.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/international/story/0,,2162338,00.html|title=Steve Fossett reported missing by US aviation authorities|date=September 4, 2007| work=The Guardian}}

On the second day, CAP aircraft searched but found no trace of wreckage after initiating a complex and expanding search of what later evolved into a nearly {{convert|20000|sqmi|km2|sigfig=2}} area of some of the most rugged terrain in North America. On the first day of CAP searching, operations were suspended by mid-day due to high winds, according to Ryan. By the fourth day, the CAP was using fourteen aircraft in the search effort, including one equipped with the ARCHER system that could automatically scan detailed imaging for a given signature of the missing aircraft.{{cite web |url= http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story.jsp?id=news/Foss09067.xml&headline=Advanced%20Recon%20System%20Aids%20Fossett%20Search&channel=null |title= Advanced Recon System Aids Fossett Search |access-date= September 8, 2007 |author= Fiorino, Frances |date= September 2007 |work= Aviation Week |publisher= McGraw-Hill |quote= According to CAP, a set of parameters describing the intended target, including its color and shape, is programmed into the ARCHER system. |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070927013202/http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story.jsp?id=news%2FFoss09067.xml&headline=Advanced%20Recon%20System%20Aids%20Fossett%20Search&channel=null |archive-date= September 27, 2007 |url-status= live |df= mdy-all }}

By September 10, search crews reported eight previously unidentified crash sites,{{cite news |url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/09/10/MNF0S2BJT.DTL |title=Search for Fossett turns up wrecks of 8 other small planes |access-date=September 10, 2007 |last=Friess |first=Steve |date=September 10, 2007 |work=San Francisco Chronicle |publisher=Hearst Communications Inc. |pages=A–1 |quote=The search for Fossett across a {{convert|17000|sqmi|km2|adj=on}} swath of the Sierra Nevada has revealed the wreckage of eight other small planes ... |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071112204925/http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=%2Fc%2Fa%2F2007%2F09%2F10%2FMNF0S2BJT.DTL |archive-date=November 12, 2007 |url-status=live }} some of which were decades old.{{cite web|url=http://www.montereyherald.com/ci_6836636|title=Vast, desolate area hinders Fossett search|access-date=September 10, 2007|author=Riley, Brendan|date=September 8, 2007|work=Monterey Herald|quote=...another downed plane Friday that was spotted on a hillside about {{convert|45|mi|km}} southeast of Reno ... turned out to be an old crash, a plane last registered in Oregon in 1975|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070911051445/http://www.montereyherald.com/ci_6836636|archive-date=September 11, 2007|url-status=dead}} After accounting for double-counted sites and prior wrecks recorded by the NTSB, this was reduced to three previously undiscovered plane wrecks.{{cite web |last1=Friess |first1=Steve |title=Clues to 3 Plane Wrecks Could Be Lost in Files Purge |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/04/us/04fossett.html |website=The New York Times |access-date=February 7, 2024 |date=October 4, 2007 | quote=At one point in the search for Mr. Fossett, officials thought that they had found as many as eight new wrecks. But Mr. Derks said some were spotted more than once, and others had been logged by the National Transportation Safety Board.}} The urgency of what was still regarded as a rescue mission meant that minimal immediate effort was made to identify the aircraft in the uncharted crash sites,{{cite news | url = http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/09/10/MNF0S2BJT.DTL | title = Search for Fossett turns up wrecks of 8 other small planes | access-date = June 24, 2009 | date = September 10, 2007 | last = Friess | first = Steve | work = San Francisco Chronicle | quote = ...Little is known about the eight crashes spotted in the past week, because searchers "put boots on the ground" only long enough to ascertain they were not Fossett's plane, said Civil Air Patrol spokeswoman Maj. Cynthia Ryan. | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070914062010/http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=%2Fc%2Fa%2F2007%2F09%2F10%2FMNF0S2BJT.DTL | archive-date = September 14, 2007 | url-status = live | df = mdy-all }} although some had speculated that one could have belonged to Charles Clifford Ogle, missing since 1964.{{cite web|url=http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5h4Tt3Ok0yMNfSsatpddlmScxyEiQ |title=Aviator's Fate Puzzles Search Crews |access-date=September 8, 2007 |author=Gerdner, Tom |date=September 8, 2007 |publisher=Associated Press |quote=In their quest to find missing aviator Steve Fossett, searchers have come across eight uncharted plane crash wreckage sites. But none of the wrecks shed light on what may have happened to the multimillionaire. |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071019232322/http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5h4Tt3Ok0yMNfSsatpddlmScxyEiQ |archive-date=October 19, 2007 }}

About two dozen aircraft were involved in the massive search, operating from the primary search base at Minden, Nevada, with a secondary search base located at Bishop, California.

On September 7, Google Inc. helped the search for the aviator through its connections to contractors that provide satellite imagery for its Google Earth software. British entrepreneur Richard Branson, a friend of Fossett, said he and others were coordinating efforts with Google to see if any of the high-resolution images might include Fossett's aircraft.{{Cite news |date=2007-09-05 |title=Branson hopes Google Earth helps find Fossett |language=en |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-fossett-tech-idUSN0521313620070905 |access-date=2023-06-24}}

On September 8, the first of a series of new high-resolution imagery from DigitalGlobe was made available via the Amazon Mechanical Turk beta website so that users could flag potential areas of interest for searching. By September 11, up to 50,000 people had joined the effort, scrutinizing more than 300,000 278-square-foot ({{convert|278|ft2|m2|disp=out|0}}) squares of the imagery. Peter Cohen of Amazon believed that by September 11, the entire search area had been covered at least once.

Amazon's search effort was shut down the week of October 29, without any measurable success.[https://www.wired.com/software/webservices/news/2007/09/distributed_search 50,000 Volunteers Join Distributed Search For Steve Fossett] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140314144856/http://www.wired.com/software/webservices/news/2007/09/distributed_search |date=March 14, 2014 }}, Wired News, By Steve Friess, September 11, 2007.{{cite magazine | title=Online Fossett Searchers Ask, Was It Worth It? | last=Friess | first=Steve | magazine=Wired | url=http://archive.wired.com/techbiz/it/news/2007/11/fossett_search | date=November 6, 2007 | access-date=July 15, 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170216160912/http://archive.wired.com/techbiz/it/news/2007/11/fossett_search | archive-date=February 16, 2017 | url-status=live | df=mdy-all }} Major Cynthia Ryan later said it had been more of a hindrance than a help. She said that persons purporting to have seen the aircraft on the Mechanical Turk or have special knowledge clogged her email during critical days of the search, and for even months afterward. Many of the ostensible sightings proved to be images of CAP aircraft flying search grids, or simply mistaken artifacts of old images.

Psychics flooded the search base in Minden with predictions of where the aviator could be found. One man from Canada was particularly persistent with daily calls to Ryan.{{citation needed|date=January 2023}} Ryan noted that every message, letter, or phone call was taken seriously, which swamped the USAF specialists assigned the task of reviewing every one of them without regard to apparent plausibility. In retrospect, the crowdsource effort was "not ready for prime time", according to Ryan.{{citation needed|date=March 2023}}

On September 12, survival experts speculated that Fossett was likely to be dead.{{cite news|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2007/US/09/12/fossett.search.ap/index.html| title=Survival experts doubt Fossett is still alive|publisher=CNN|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070912203918/http://edition.cnn.com/2007/US/09/12/fossett.search.ap/index.html|archive-date=September 12, 2007}}

On September 17, the Nevada wing of the Civil Air Patrol said it was suspending all flights in connection with its search operations,{{cite web |url=http://www.check-six.com/lib/Famous_Missing/Fossett.htm |title=Missing – Steve Fossett |publisher=Check-Six.com |access-date=July 18, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101019061139/http://check-six.com/lib/Famous_Missing/Fossett.htm |archive-date=October 19, 2010 |url-status=live }} but National Guard search flights, private search flights and ground searches continued.{{cite news| url=http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/09/18/fossett.search.ap/index.html | title=Search for aviator scaled back | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071113161526/http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/09/18/fossett.search.ap/index.html | archive-date=November 13, 2007 | date=September 18, 2007 | access-date=February 23, 2015 | publisher=CNN}}

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) began a preliminary investigation into the likely crash of the plane that Fossett was flying.{{cite web|url=https://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief.asp?ev_id=20070917X01399&key=1 |title=NTSB Preliminary Report – SEA07FAMS2 – on the loss of N240R |publisher=Ntsb.gov |access-date=July 18, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091012024150/https://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief.asp?ev_id=20070917X01399&key=1 |archive-date=October 12, 2009 }} The preliminary report stated that Fossett was "presumed fatally injured and the aircraft substantially damaged", but was subsequently revised to remove that assumption.{{cite web|url=http://www.kolotv.com/home/headlines/9904426.html |title = Federal Agency Retracts Fossett Statement After KOLO 8 Probe|access-date = September 21, 2007|first1=Howard|last1=Scott|first2= Stewart|last2=Campbell|date=September 20, 2007|work=KOLO-TV News|quote=...the National Transportation Safety Board's officials preliminary report noted that Fossett was "presumed fatally injured and the aircraft substantially damaged."|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071111051728/http://www.kolotv.com/home/headlines/9904426.html | archive-date = November 11, 2007|url-status=live|df = mdy-all}} Branson made similar public statements.{{cite news|url=https://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071015/ap_on_re_us/steve_fossett|title=Branson: Fossett likely lost forever|publisher=Yahoo! News|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071020003409/http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071015/ap_on_re_us/steve_fossett|archive-date=October 20, 2007}}

On September 19, 2007, authorities confirmed they would stop actively looking for Fossett in the Nevada Desert, but would keep air crews on standby to fly to possible crash sites.[http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30200-1284904,00.html Search For Missing Adventurer Wound Down |Sky News|World News] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071011192324/http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0%2C%2C30200-1284904%2C00.html |date=October 11, 2007 }} On September 30, it was announced that after further analysis of radar data from the day of his disappearance, ground teams and two aircraft had resumed the search.{{cite news |url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,298646,00.html |title=Search for Missing Aviator Steve Fossett Ramped Up After New Air Force Analysis – Local News | News Articles | National News |publisher=FOXNews.com |date=September 30, 2007 |access-date=July 18, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110201112112/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,298646,00.html |archive-date=February 1, 2011 |url-status=dead }}

On October 2, 2007, CAP announced it had called off its search operation.{{cite news| url=http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/10/02/missing.millionaire/index.html| title=Search called off for adventurous aviator Steve Fossett| access-date=February 24, 2015| date=October 3, 2007| publisher=CNN | quote=The Civil Air Patrol has called off the search for multimillionaire adventurer Steve Fossett, nearly a month after he took off from a Nevada ranch, the agency announced Tuesday.| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150224085021/http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/10/02/missing.millionaire/index.html| archive-date=February 24, 2015| url-status=live| df=mdy-all}} Ryan later noted that the search was the largest, most complex peacetime search for an individual in U.S. history.{{citation needed|date=January 2023}}

In July 2008, Simon Donato's Team Adventure Science searched for a week on the Nevada–California border.{{cite book |first=Jon |last=Billman |title=The Cold Vanish: Seeking the Missing in North America's Wildlands |location= New York / Boston |publisher=Grand Central Publishing |year=2020 |isbn=978-1-5387-4757-5 |pages=185–92 }} On August 23, 2008, almost a year after Fossett disappeared, twenty-eight friends and admirers conducted a foot search based on new information and computer modeling. That search concluded on September 10.{{cite news |first=Brendan |last=Riley |agency=AP |title=New search starts for Steve Fossett | work=Reno Gazette Journal |date=August 31, 2008 |url=http://news.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080831/NEWS18/80831007 |access-date=September 12, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20081005162146/http://news.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080831/NEWS18/80831007 |archive-date=October 5, 2008 }}{{cite news|url=http://www.ksdk.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=154490|title=Another Fossett search winding up in Nevada|access-date=October 14, 2008|date = September 10, 2008|publisher = KSDK TV| location=St. Louis, Missouri }}

On May 1, 2008, the Las Vegas Review-Journal attributed to Nevada State Governor Jim Gibbons' spokesman, Ben Kieckhefer,{{cite press release|title=Governor appoints Ben Kieckhefer press secretary |publisher=Office of the Governor, Nevada State |date=March 12, 2008 |url=http://gov.state.nv.us/PressReleases/2008/2008-03-12BenKieckhefer-PS.htm |access-date=May 1, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090107061058/http://www.gov.state.nv.us/PressReleases/2008/2008-03-12BenKieckhefer-PS.htm |archive-date=January 7, 2009 }} the Governor's decision to direct the state to charge Steve Fossett's family for the $687,000 expense of the search for Fossett.{{cite news |last = Vogel |first = Ed |title = Missing Adventurer: Gibbons to bill Fossett widow |newspaper = Las Vegas Review-Journal |date = May 1, 2008 |url = http://www.lvrj.com/news/18443319.html |quote = Government's cost to hunt for multimillionaire was $687,000 |access-date = May 2, 2008 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080502104546/http://www.lvrj.com/news/18443319.html |archive-date = May 2, 2008 |url-status = live |df = mdy-all }} Kieckhefer later played that early report down, when he told the Tahoe Daily Tribune that Nevada did not intend to demand an involuntary payment from Fossett's widow, but that such a payment would be voluntary: "We are going to request that they help offset some of these expenses, considering the scope of the search, the overall cost as well as our ongoing budget difficulties."{{cite news |last= Chereb |first= Sandra |title= Nevada governor to ask Fossett widow for search money |work= Associated Press Writer |publisher= Tahoe Daily Tribune |date= May 1, 2008 |url= http://www.tahoedailytribune.com/article/20080501/NEWS01/925589792 |quote= Kieckhefer said any assistance from the Fossett family would be voluntary. |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110928105822/http://www.tahoedailytribune.com/article/20080501/NEWS01/925589792 |archive-date= September 28, 2011 |df= mdy-all }} Hotelier Barron Hilton, from whose ranch Fossett had departed on the day he went missing, had previously volunteered $200,000 to help pay for the search costs.

In his later comments to the Tahoe Daily Tribune, Kieckhefer denied outright that a bill for the family was being prepared. Kieckefer said, "It will probably be in the form of a letter", which he indicated would include a financial outline of the steps taken by the state, the associated costs, and a mention of the state's ongoing budget difficulties.

Days prior to this announcement, state Emergency Management Director Frank Siracusa noted that "there is no precedent where government will go after people for costs just because they have money to pay for it. You get lost, and we look for you. It is a service your taxpayer dollars pay for", although he conceded that legally any decision would rest with Gibbons.

At an April 10, 2008, Legislature's Interim Finance Committee hearing, Siracusa indicated that he had hired an independent auditor to review costs incurred by the state in searching for Fossett, but added, "We are doing an audit but not because we are critical of anybody or suspect something was done wrong".{{cite web | work=Interim Finance Committee (NRS 218.6825) | publisher=Nevada Legislature | title=Agendas and Minutes | date=April 10, 2008 | url=https://www.leg.state.nv.us/74th/Interim/Scheduler/committeeIndex.cfm?ID=10091 | access-date=May 2, 2008 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100221024114/http://leg.state.nv.us/74th/Interim/Scheduler/committeeIndex.cfm?ID=10091 | archive-date=February 21, 2010 | url-status=live | df=mdy-all }} Chairman Morse Arberry queried Siracusa as to why, since they lacked funds, had the state not billed the Fossett family for its search costs, to which Siracusa did not directly respond.

In a later interview with the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Siracusa stated that his comments to the Committee may have given the false impression that he had hired an auditor for the purpose of later challenging the state's financial burden incurred on its behalf by the National Guard during the search operation. Upon interview regarding reports that the state would seek payment, Arberry was recorded as stating that he was glad to hear steps were being taken to try to recoup some of the costs.

The Nevada search cost $1.6 million, "the largest search and rescue effort ever conducted for a person within the U.S." Jim Gibbons asked Fossett's estate to shoulder $487,000, but it declined, saying Fossett's wife had already spent $1 million on private searching.{{cite news | title =Audit critical of Nevada search for Steve Fossett | newspaper =Arizona Daily Star | date =June 26, 2008 | url =http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/printDS/245620 | access-date =September 10, 2008 | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20081005163721/http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/printDS/245620 | archive-date =October 5, 2008}}

File:FossettCrash-file1443.jpg

On September 29, 2008, a hiker found three crumpled identification cards in the eastern Sierra Nevada in California about {{convert|65|mi|-1}} south (186 degrees) of Fossett's take-off site. The items were confirmed as belonging to Fossett and included an FAA-issued card, his Soaring Society of America membership card and $1,005 in cash.{{cite news|url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/10/01/MNPT139M9N.DTL|title=Fossett items found near Mammoth Lakes|access-date=October 2, 2008|first=Kevin|last=Fagan|date=October 2, 2008|work= SFGate|publisher=Hearst Communications|location = San Francisco, California|quote=(The cards) both are authentic, and both have been confirmed that they do in fact belong to Steve Fossett|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081005051049/http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=%2Fc%2Fa%2F2008%2F10%2F01%2FMNPT139M9N.DTL|archive-date = October 5, 2008|url-status=live|df=mdy-all}}{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/oct/02/usa2 |title=Timeline: Steve Fossett disappearance |access-date=October 2, 2008 |author=The Press Association |date=October 2, 2008 |work=The Guardian |publisher=Guardian News and Media Limited |location=London |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130903084746/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/oct/02/usa2 |archive-date=September 3, 2013|url-status=live}}

On October 1, late in the day, air search teams spotted wreckage on the ground at an elevation of {{convert|10100|ft|m}}, about {{convert|750|yd|-1}} from where the personal items had been found. Later that evening the teams confirmed identification of the tail number of Fossett's plane.{{cite news|url= https://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/03/us/03fossett.html|title=Remains Are Found at Site of Fossett Plane Crash|access-date=October 4, 2008|first1=Jesse|last1=McKinley|first2=Steve|last2=Friess|date=October 2, 2008|work=The New York Times|location = New York City|df=mdy-all}}(1) {{cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=95287827|title=Remains Found With Wreckage Of Millionaire's Plane|date=October 3, 2008|work=National|location=Washington, D.C.|publisher=National Public Radio|access-date=December 27, 2020|archive-date=December 27, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201227061942/https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=95287827|url-status=dead}}.
(2) {{cite web|first=Willie|last=Bodenstein|url=http://www.pilotspost.com/arn0001110|title=Steve Fossett-Aviation Pioneer|work=Pilot's Post|year=2000|location=South Africa|publisher=Pilot's Post PTY Ltd|access-date=December 27, 2020|archive-date=December 27, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201227063625/http://www.pilotspost.com/arn0001110|url-status=dead}}

The crash site is located on the western side of a ridge (Volcanic Ridge){{YouTube|OJ-KvFOppy4|Minarets and Volcanic Ridge}} (5:24 minutes). whose orientation is northwest/southeast,{{Cite web|url=https://app.ntsb.gov/pdfgenerator/ReportGeneratorFile.ashx?EventID=20081007X17184&AKey=1&RType=Final&IType=FA|title=National Transportation Safety Board Report |publisher=Ntsb.gov |id=SEA07FA277 |access-date=July 26, 2021|url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210727063539/https://app.ntsb.gov/pdfgenerator/ReportGeneratorFile.ashx?EventID=20081007X17184&AKey=1&RType=Final&IType=FA|archive-date=July 27, 2021}}Coordinates of crash site: {{coord|37.667444|-119.133333|type:landmark|format=dms|name=Steve Fossett crash site}} at {{coord|37|40|N|119|08|W|display=inline}}.{{Cite news |date=July 9, 2009 |title=Aviation Investigation Final Report |pages=3 |work=National Transportation Safety Board |url=Report_SEA07FA277_69235_6_5_2023%2012_59_05%20AM.pdf |access-date=June 4, 2023}} The site is about {{convert|300|ft|m|0}} below the crest of the ridge. The steep terrain was sparsely forested with Ponderosa pines averaging {{convert|40|ft|m|0}} to {{convert|60|ft|m|0}} tall. Numerous boulders and rock outcrops surrounded by grassy areas covered the ground.

File:Ritterrange.JPG. Volcanic Ridge is shown here, in the left foreground.]]

The crash site is within the Ansel Adams Wilderness in Madera County, California. Other named places near the site include Minaret Mine ({{convert|2000|ft|m|-2}} west), Emily Lake ({{convert|0.7|mi|km|1}} northeast), Minaret Lake ({{convert|1.8|mi|km|1}} west-southwest), the Minaret peaks ({{convert|3|mi|0}} west), Devils Postpile National Monument ({{convert|4.5|mi|km|1}} southeast), and the town of Mammoth Lakes (the nearest populated place, {{convert|9|mi|km|0}} east-southeast). The site is {{convert|10|mi|km|0}} east of Yosemite National Park.

Over the next two days, ground searchers found four bone fragments that were about {{convert|2|by|1.5|in|cm|0}} in size.(1){{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7701300.stm|title=Bones found near Fossett's plane|date=October 31, 2008|access-date=November 2, 2008|work=BBC News|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081102013846/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7701300.stm|archive-date=November 2, 2008|url-status=live}}
(2) {{cite news|url=http://www.leadertelegram.com/story-news.asp?id=BHUJ3SRVFS1|title=Adventurer Fossett's plane, human remains found|access-date=November 4, 2008|agency= Associated Press|date=October 2, 2008|work= Leader-Telegram|location = Eau Claire, Wisconsin|quote = 'It was a hard-impact crash, and he would've died instantly', said Jeff Page, emergency management coordinator for Lyon County, Nev., who assisted in the search.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304031500/http://www.leadertelegram.com/story-news.asp?id=BHUJ3SRVFS1|archive-date=March 4, 2016|url-status=live|df=mdy-all}}
(3) {{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/california/la-me-fossett4-2008oct04,0,5421336.story|title=Wreckage of Steve Fossett's plane is airlifted from crash site|access-date=November 12, 2008|first=Jia-Rui|last=Chong|date=October 4, 2008|work=Los Angeles Times|location=Los Angeles|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081019232600/http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/california/la-me-fossett4-2008oct04%2C0%2C5421336.story|archive-date=October 19, 2008|url-status=dead}} However, the bones were found to be either not human or too small for DNA tests.{{cite news|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-bn-xpm-2008-10-30-28511537-story.html|title=2 bones found near Fossett crash site|agency=Associated Press|work=Chicago Tribune|date=October 30, 2008|access-date=December 27, 2020}}

On October 29, search teams recovered two large human bones that they suspected might belong to Fossett. These bones were found {{convert|0.5|mi|km}} east of the crash site. Tennis shoes with animal bite marks on them were also recovered.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7707397.stm|title=Bones confirm Steve Fossett death|work=BBC News|date=November 3, 2008|access-date=November 10, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081108022205/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7707397.stm|archive-date=November 8, 2008|url-status=live}}{{cite news|date=November 3, 2008|title=DNA links bones near plane crash site to Fossett |agency=Associated Press|url=http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-11-03-3668149862_x.htm |newspaper=USA Today |access-date=March 27, 2014}}

On November 3, California police coroners said that DNA profiling of the two bones by a California Department of Justice forensics laboratory confirmed a match to Fossett's DNA. Madera County Sheriff John Anderson said Fossett would have died on impact in such a crash, and that it was not unusual for animals to drag remains away.

On March 5, 2009, the NTSB issued its report and findings.{{Cite journal|title=Factual Report – Aviation |url=https://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/GenPDF.asp?id=SEA07FA277&rpt=fa|publisher=National Transportation Safety Board |id=SEA07FA277|date=July 9, 2009|access-date=July 9, 2010}} {{Dead link|date=April 2012|bot=H3llBot}} The report states that the plane crashed at an elevation of about {{convert|10000|ft|m}}, {{convert|300|ft|m|-1}} below the crest of the ridge. The elevation of peaks in the area exceeded {{convert|13000|ft|m}}. However, the density altitude in the area at the time and place of the crash was estimated to be {{convert|12700|ft|m}}.

The aircraft, a tandem two-seater, was nearly 30 years old and Fossett had flown approximately 40 hours in this type. The plane's operating manual says that at an altitude of {{convert|13000|ft|m}} the rate of climb would be 300 feet per minute (about 1.5 m/s).

The NTSB report says that "a meteorologist from Salinas provided a numerical simulation of the conditions in the accident area using the WRF-ARW (Advanced Research Weather Research and Forecasting) numerical model. At 0930 [the approximate time of the crash] the model displayed downdrafts in that area of approximately 300 feet per minute." There was no evidence of equipment failure.

The report stated that a postmortem examination of the skeletal fragments had been performed under the auspices of the Madera County Sheriff's Department. The cause of death was determined to be multiple traumatic injuries. The ELT was destroyed by the crash.

On July 9, 2009, the NTSB declared the probable cause of the crash as "the pilot's inadvertent encounter with downdrafts that exceeded the climb capability of the airplane. Contributing to the accident were the downdrafts, high density altitude, and mountainous terrain."(1) {{Cite web|author=National Transportation Safety Board|url=https://www.ntsb.gov/_layouts/ntsb.aviation/brief2.aspx?ev_id=20081007X17184&ntsbno=SEA07FA277&akey=1|title=SEA07FA277: Full Narrative|date=July 9, 2009|access-date=July 14, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160806162114/https://www.ntsb.gov/_layouts/ntsb.aviation/brief2.aspx?ev_id=20081007X17184&ntsbno=SEA07FA277&akey=1|archive-date=August 6, 2016|url-status=live}}
(2) {{cite news |url=http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/07/09/fossett.crash.cause/index.html |title=Investigators: Strong winds probable cause of Fossett crash |publisher=CNN.com |date=July 9, 2009 |access-date=April 24, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100109134026/http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/07/09/fossett.crash.cause/index.html |archive-date=January 9, 2010|url-status=live}}

• List of firsts in aviation
• List of solved missing person cases

Notes

{{reflist|30em}}

Further reading

• {{cite book

| title = Chasing the Wind: The Autobiography of Steve Fossett

| last = Fossett

| first = Steve

| author2 = Hasley, Will

| year = 2006

| publisher = Virgin Books

| isbn = 978-1-85227-234-0

| url-access = registration

| url = https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781852272340

}}

{{Commons category}}

• [https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/oct/02/usa2 Timeline: Steve Fossett]
• [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7648259.stm In pictures: Steve Fossett]
• [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/2078591.stm BBC, Profile: Steve Fossett]
• {{cite web|title=FAI Awards received by Steve FOSSETT (USA) |publisher=Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) |url=http://www.fai.org/awards/recipient.asp?id=2008 |access-date=October 31, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071202155813/http://www.fai.org/awards/recipient.asp?id=2008 |archive-date=December 2, 2007 }}
• {{cite web|title=List of records established by 'Steve FOSSETT (USA)' |publisher=Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) |url=http://records.fai.org/data?p=1372 |access-date=October 31, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110608191349/http://records.fai.org/data?p=1372 |archive-date=June 8, 2011 }}
• [http://www.economist.com/obituary/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10717765 Obituary from The Economist, February 21, 2008]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20110706164217/http://adventurescience.ca/fossett/ New attempts by adventure athletes to search territory previous searches could not cover]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20110718122556/http://radblast-sf.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/radar/WUNIDS_composite_archive?centerlat=36.32927322¢erlon=-119.64318848&radius=124&newmaps=1&type=N0R&num=24&SD.epoch=1188795600&ED.epoch=1188881999&DELAY=60&delay=20&width=640&height=480 Weather radar loop for September 3, 2007] around Fresno, California, including the crash site.
• [https://www.flickr.com/photos/jw4pix/5032540480/ Aerial Photo of crash site taken 2010/09/25]
• [https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=69235 NTSB Aviation Investigation – 45 Docket Items – SEA07FA277]

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