Although the people implicated in the search of the famous US
aviator and adventurer Steve Fossett have scouted 20,000 square miles so far
there are no signs of Fosset’s plane or a crash site. The rescue mission discovered
only several unrelated and aged crash sites.
According to media reports authorities plan to assess the
rescue operation on Monday, but until then the search for Steve Fossett
continues on its 12th full day with CAP aircraft from Minden, Nevada and
Bishop, California, the Air National Guard from Reno, plus Army National Guard
helicopters and private aircraft based at the Flying M Ranch scouring the high
desert and mountainous terrain.
The search has proven to be more difficult because of the difficult
terrain. "We have peaks and valleys ranging from 5,000 feet valley all the
way up to 12,000 feet peak, right next to each other. That vertical climb is
extremely hazardous," said Major Ed Locke of the Nevada National Guard.
He also announced that the Federal Aviation Administration
decided to issue a temporary ban and the civil aircrafts are not allowed to fly
less than 2,000 feet above ground level in a 50 mile area around the Flying M
Ranch, southeast of Reno.
"We're basically trying to keep the looky-loos and
those trying to be helpful out of the search area," Locke explained.
Fosset has been reported missing since September 3rd after
he took off on a routine flight onboard a light Citabria Super Decathlon from
Flying M Ranch. Unfortunately, he didn’t file a flight plan before taking off, which
makes the rescue operation even harder.
The aircraft's last confirmed position on Monday (3
September) at approximately 10:30 A.M. local time showed Steve west of Powell
Canyon (south of Walker Lake and southwest of Hawthorne), proceeding east
towards the canyon.
According to the reports the adventurer didn’t have a
parachute on board the two-seater plane, which is frequently used in air shows
for acrobatic maneuvers.
James Stephen Fossett became famous and cheered across the
world for his staggering records. He managed to become the first person to
single-handedly fly a balloon (2002) and airplane (2005) around the globe
without any intermediate landings or refueling.
Last year he set a new record for “distance without landing”
after 76 hours and 43 minutes of dramatic flight across 41,467 kilometers. He
took off in his ultra-light plane the Virgin Atlantic Global Flyer from Florida and flew over the Atlantic twice before landing
in a tourist resort on the south coast of England.
As an aviator, pilot and adventurer, the Californian broke
and set over 100 world records, half of them still ruling the statistics.
Fossett has survived numerous near-misses and harrowing
crash landings over the years, including a 9,000-meter (29,000-foot) plummet
into the Coral Sea off Australia
because of a storm-shredded balloon.
In another incident he managed to walk for almost 50
kilometers and get help after making an emergency landing.
Civil Air Patrol Maj. Cynthia Ryan remained confident that Fossett's
plane eventually will be found.
"Experience has shown us, if we just keep going back,
looking at areas at different times of the day, in different lighting
conditions the plane eventually turns up” Ryan said.
"We have about an 87 percent success rate," she added.
"We may look like a bunch of yokels, but we're about the best trained
volunteers anywhere."
