Lost in the wind
 

Steve Fossett was an enterprising adventurer who had given fate many even-odds chances to take him earlier than this. He opened frontiers and tested boundaries and set records that required a special combination of resources, fortitude, and daring... plus the essential ingredient of luck, which saved his person more than once along the way.

Perhaps he forgot to be lucky that day, or didn't remember fast enough. In a little feather of an airplane swimming slow upstream against the millions of tons of air rushing against it that were accelerated across 8000 miles of ocean and then rushing in a blast across the stony narrow knife edge of a mountain range taller than most and proud in that wind, he missed, ever so slightly, his intended course, and finally paid the price imposed by an unforgiving sky.

Body parts found at crash site
 

The finding of body parts at the crash site has been reported on ABC radio out here in the Aussie bush for hours. How come you guys are so full of conspiracy stuff even before the investigation team gets to the site and declares that they have recovered enough material to support DNA identification? Is anyone going to apologise for shooting their mouth off and trying to cut down a real hero? Is this Pprune.org or some tabloid rag in the UK?

It's pprune.org but it is read by and contributred to by many folks who read the red top tabloids, even if they don't actually buy them. So it must come as no surprise that such salacious stories are bandied about with such undisguised delight and need no obvious supporting facts to make them possible.
pprune is only as good as its' readership!

Fosset's Mission
 

I'm curious why anybody would scout out locations for a land speed record from the air. Any conceivable locations offering the necessary terrain and accessability must have been mulled over by hundreds of people ever since John Cobb.

DeanabolI agree with your sentiments. Although it is interesting to read up on current events and to keep abreast of differing viewpoints, I never post on pprune, having decided some time ago that it attracts too many weirdos.I break my silence to express my disdain for those posters who, without any factual knowledge, see fit to air ridiculous, far-fetched conspiracy theories about a human tragedy that has caused anguish to his dear ones for thirteen long months.To those posters who cannot let a thread pass without cluttering it with wild, un-informed and often hurtful speculation - you are pathetic, inadequate apologies for human beings.Out!

It bloody hard spotting things from the air. Even if you now exactly where to look. I remember doing some work for the BBC in Africa for Mr Ray Mears. We were looking for the crew on the ground in a Landie and we were in radio contact. They could see us but none of the three on board could spot them. I got them to drive so that they would kick up a dust cloud, then it was easy.

Also know a guy who was down in the water with three others in yellow life jackets and the search plane flew right overy them at low alt but failed to spot them because they were below the aircraft.

Now I am not a SAR pilot but I can say I have been involved in a couple of searches, and it aint as easy as you think to spot things from up there......in the sky.

Steve Fosset missing
 

Surely someone with his flying experience did not fall foul of a stuffed cloud.

Once again my feelings are confirmed. Light aviation is not a zero risk proposition, even for the best prepared and most experienced. Sadly there is a lesson out there that none of us is untouchable and the less gifted of us can in no way ride our luck too hard.

Sorry ending for a great aviator......


"High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there
I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air"


Fly smooth to your next life Mr Fossett :D

Is there an airstrip in that area that is a popular destination for private pilots?

Another famed and experienced pilot meets a simple fate . . . .kind of reminds me of the rich and legendary Reno race pilot, Leroy Penhall of the 70's


Also super experienced, he too had crashed at Mammoth, but during a winter takeoff at the nearby high altitude Mammoth lakes airport. . . . .. NTSB ruling - no pre flight engine run up - he attempted take off with cold oil/flat pitch in his twin engined Beechcraft Duke's props . .went into the trees and exploded.

Light aviation is not a zero risk proposition, even for the best prepared and most experienced. Sadly there is a lesson out there that none of us is untouchable and the less gifted of us can in no way ride our luck too hard. Sorry ending for a great aviator......

"High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there
I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air"
Fly smooth to your next life Mr Fossett :D

Well said,
Some of the posters on this subject have, in my opinion, not been a credit to the flying fraternity.

The Worlds that little bit less interesting without him

Blue Skies Mr Fossett

arcniz, that was eloquently put.

With a unique combination of ability, entrepreneurship and sheer ba**s, Steve Fossett achieved feats of airmanship that may seem all the more remarkable the more we begin to understand the environment in which he operated.

My only gripe is that, having spent over an hour driving to Manston aerodrome to see his arrival, I learned that he had decided to land prematurely at Southampton because of some small matter, like losing most of his electrics and flight instruments. Never trust an aviator.

How has the mighty fallen.

Godspeed Steve.
 

A skilled & talented pilot has gone down, he was a valuable human being, this is extremely sad.

On a positive note, he was an aviator, he loved to fly & he died doing what he loved.
The FAA & NTSB can do the investigating, meanwhile let let us remember him & appreciate his life & what he achieved.

GODSPEED STEVE, YOU WERE A VERY SPECIAL AVIATOR & PERSON, WE APPRECIATED YOUR ACHIEVEMENTS & WILL MISS YOU, HEAVEN HAS INHERITED AN EXCEPTIONALLY SPIRITED PERSON.

Amazing aviators sometimes meet their fate in the fashion one would least expect. Richard Bong....top shelf fighter ace from the WWII Pacific Theather died test flying an early jet following an engine failure on take off. Fossett dying as he did is just another testament to Ernest Gann's firm belief in Fate is the Hunter.

Aviation, sailing, Ironman competitions....Fossett was a record setter. Don't we wish we had just a wee tiny bit of his daring, ability, and personal fortitude?

Sail On Lad....Happy Landings on the other side!:(

High flying U2 pilot Gary Powers - shot down over Russia only to meet his fate years later in an LA traffic watch helicopter. . . . You certainly don't expect these caliber of airmen to go this way.