Steve Fossett may be gone...plane missing.

[Manedwolf]

There's no way this guy wouldn't have had an ELT. So no contact is...not good. But man, that's why you always file a flight plan...

FAA: Adventurer Fossett's Plane Missing

By SCOTT SONNER  13 minutes ago

RENO, Nev. (AP)  Teams searched rugged terrain Tuesday for a plane carrying aviation adventurer Steve Fossett, the first person to circle the world solo in a balloon, a day after the plane vanished, federal officials said.

Fossett took off in the single engine Bellanca at 8:45 a.m. Monday at a private airstrip on a ranch south of Smith Valley in western Nevada and didn't return as scheduled. A friend reported him missing, said Ian Gregor, a Federal Aviation Administration spokesman in Maryland.

"The Civil Air Patrol is looking for him. One problem is he doesn't appear to have filed a flight plan," Gregor said.

The search for the millionaire entrepreneur was being coordinated by the Air Force's Rescue Coordination Center in Langley, Va., Gregor said.

"They are working on some leads, but they don't know where he is right now," Gregor said.

In 2002, Fossett became the first person to fly around the world alone in a balloon. In two weeks, his balloon flew 19,428.6 miles around the Southern Hemisphere. The record came after five previous attempts  some of them spectacular and frightening failures.

Three years later, in March 2005, he became the first person to fly a plane solo around the world without refueling.

He and a co-pilot also claim to have set a world glider altitude record of 50,671 feet during a flight in August over the Andes Mountains.

Fossett, 63, of Beaver Creek, Colo., was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in July. He told a crowd gathered at the Dayton Convention Center in Ohio that he will continue flying.

"I'm hoping you didn't give me this award because you think my career is complete, because I'm not done," Fossett said.

Fossett said he plans to go to Argentina in November in an effort to break a glider record.
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[280plus]

Flight plan? I'm a millionaire, I don't need no stinkin' flight plan! 

[Fly320s]

You're right.  No one is required to file a flight plan except when flying by Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) or when crossing national borders.  A Visual Flight Rules (VFR) flight does not require a flight plan, even if the flight goes all the way across the country.

Maybe he just was planning on going out buzzing around the sky for two or three hours; I like doing that.  When I fly for fun, I do my best to avoid all interaction with ATC.  No flight plan, no radio.  Why, it's almost like being free again.

[280plus]

Hmph, I did not know that. What happens when you crash and they can't find you? 

[Brad Johnson]

Hmph, I did not know that. What happens when you crash and they can't find you? 

They make a Movie of the Week about it.  For Fossett, maybe a National Geographic Special, too.

Brad

[Tallpine]

What happens when you crash and they can't find you?

Hey, coyotes gotta eat too

[Fly320s]

Hmph, I did not know that. What happens when you crash and they can't find you? 

Exactly.

Personal responsibility can be a bitch, eh?

[Barbara]

I think once you crash, you don't really give a hoot if they find you or not.

Good for him. Gone the way he'd want to have, I bet. Definitely worse ways to die.

[280plus]

If you die on the spot maybe but what if you live and have to put up with the buzzards trying to make dinner out of you first? Or the crows... 

[Ben]

No ELT? I read that the plane was owned by a hunting outfit. If I were doing lots of backcountry flying like I'm guessing a hunting outfit would, I'd sure have one mounted in my plane.

Still too early to give up hope. He could just be in a gnarly area waiting for someone to spot him.

[Fly320s]

Probably did have an ELT, although I can't remember is general aviation still requires one to be on board.

Anyway, if the ELT battery is dead, or the pilot didn't arm the switch, or if he crashed in steep terrain, then the ELT is about worthless.

Someone will find the wreckage eventually, if there is wreckage [insert conspiracy theory here].

[Perd Hapley]

Is this the guy that kept trying to do stupid things like flying a balloon around the world? 

[Stickjockey]

I think once you crash, you don't really give a hoot if they find you or not.

Not entirely true. Way back in the mists of time, when I was still living with Ma 'n' Da on the ranch, we had the local SAR team show up with about three trucks and a bunch of guys asking to search the ol' homestead. Seems a plane had gone down near our home and they were out looking for it (Our place was on a ridge overlooking the Roseburg Municipal Airport). Sure said we, we'll even help out. So I got on the ol' four wheeler, a couple guys grabbed a fender, and off we went into the woods looking for this plane. We found it, all right- upside-down, nose buried in the base of a tree, both wings ripped off, Avgas everywhere- but no people. No DRT, no injured, nothing. WTH, we all said, looking at each other all puzzled-like. Then came the call: thanks for finding the plane, but call off the search for occupants. Seems they all got out, one had a bit of a bump on his head and maybe a broken arm, but they all walked out to the hospital which was at the bottom of the ridge just below our house.

Airplane crash survival can happen.

[stevelyn]

Hmph, I did not know that. What happens when you crash and they can't find you? 

You die doing something you love.

[DrAmazon]

Hmmm.  Wonder if he recently had a visit from John Gault.

[Vile Nylons]

I think once you crash, you don't really give a hoot if they find you or not.

Airplane crash survival can happen.

My wife, part of the local S & R, located a crash site a few years back and rescued two little girls riding backseat who survived the accident.  The two adults up front did not. So there is hope.

Steve Fossett is the balloonist adventurer but has switched to aeronautics in the past few years trying to push the envelope and set "records".

[Manedwolf]

Is this the guy that kept trying to do stupid things like flying a balloon around the world? 

Just like that silly guy who flew a Ryan monoplane across the atlantic to Paris, yes, or those two crazy brothers who tried to get a glorified kite with a motor airborne from some sand dunes.

I never call aviation pioneers "stupid"...it's better than people placidly watching reality TV or something.

[Jamisjockey]

GA crashes are not uncommon, for any multitude or reasons.  And GA pilots flying around uncontrolled airspace, or from small airport to small airport without a flight plan....also not uncommon.  As stated earlier, its all about personal responsibility.  If you want your loved ones to have a chance of finding your smoking corpse....then file a flight plan.

Not to get too technical, but IIRC you need a flight plan to enter ADIZ airspace.

[Ben]

I saw on the news this morning that the plane did in fact have an ELT on board.  I guess that can be good or bad -- maybe something innocuous like Fly320s pointed out, or maybe he impacted so fast and hard the ELT was destroyed. 

[mike]

Didn't have a flight plan because he was just flying around looking for open spaces where he could race a car for the land speed record. He didn't really know where he was going to fly, so no reason to file a flight plan.

[Perd Hapley]

Is this the guy that kept trying to do stupid things like flying a balloon around the world? 

Just like that silly guy who flew a Ryan monoplane across the atlantic to Paris, yes, or those two crazy brothers who tried to get a glorified kite with a motor airborne from some sand dunes.

I never call aviation pioneers "stupid"...it's better than people placidly watching reality TV or something.

I'm sorry, I really can't give him that kind of credit.  To me, he just seemed to be wasting millions of dollars on nothing.  But you go one being optimistic, though.   

[Firethorn]

I'm sorry, I really can't give him that kind of credit.  To me, he just seemed to be wasting millions of dollars on nothing.  But you go one being optimistic, though.   

They're his millions to waste though.

I'd much rather he spent them on this than things like funding the brady bunch.

[Boomhauer]

ELTs.

ELTs are required for all US registered civil airplanes. They are required to be inspected every 12 calender months after the last inspection for proper installation, battery corrosion, and the presence of a sufficient signal radiated from its antenna.

The batteries must be replaced or recharged if the ELT has been in use for more than one cumulative hour, or when 50% of their useful life has expired. The ELT can also be tested on the ground the first five minutes past the hour, with a limit of 3 audible sweeps during the test.

An ELT is required even for antique aircraft without electrical systems, because it is independant of the electrical system.

My designated examiner scrutinized me during the oral exam about ELTs, too.

I'd rather have one of the newer 406mhz ELTs, though.

Flightplans

Flightplans are only useful if you are going from point A to B. They are no good if you are just going out for a local flight.

I don't generally file VFR flight plans. If I am going somewhere, I will try to get flight following if possible.

I don't want ATC watching over my shoulder like big brother all the time anyway. But there are definitely people who want that to happen. One is the Department of Homeland Security chief. He wants to have equipment put in every GA plane to identify the pilots and monitor their actions.

[Perd Hapley]

I'm sorry, I really can't give him that kind of credit.  To me, he just seemed to be wasting millions of dollars on nothing.  But you go one being optimistic, though.   

They're his millions to waste though.

I'd much rather he spent them on this than things like funding the brady bunch.

Well, duh. 

[HankB]

An ELT is required even for antique aircraft without electrical systems . . .

Don't powered aircraft need an electrical system, to fire the spark plugs if nothing else?

Anyway, I certainly don't have anything against Steve Fossett and don't wish him ill . . . but he did seem to be a bit of a reckless publicity hound. I guess he liked spending his own money so he could jump up and down shouting "Look at me! Look at me! See what I did!"