Box canyons can be deadly. Many experienced pilots have wandered up box canyons from the bottom and found themselves unexpectedly without options.
You suspect a density altitude issue ? I have experienced such in the Grand Canyon in summer in a old Cessna 172 yet that north around Reno seemed cooler temps that day he went missing........dunno. Accelerated stall trying to get out of a narrow canyon is possible.
I will suggest a hard crash resulting in his death vs a emergency landing he could limp away from. He would have signaled by now in some form or fashion due his basic survival skills collected over his decades of adventuring experience.
Just my opinion of course......
If you are good (and have enough time, not terribly much is required in a Citabria) you can execute a hammerhead stall and do a 180 and get back out the way you came.
If you are good (and have enough time, not terribly much is required in a Citabria) you can execute a hammerhead stall and do a 180 and get back out the way you came.
Yeah, like that baseball player in the Cirrus that hit that building in NYC. That is exactly what he did and his instructor did.
One thing has stuck with me throughout this search. It was a comment made by a CAP officer regarding the amount of assets being employed to find Fossett. She said that no extra efforts were being made just because of his celebrity. Considering the fact that they've found a dozen other wrecks, with one dating back to the 1940's, I'd say that her statement isn't entirely accurate.......
Well, I think we can rule out the Greys snagging him and returning to the mother ship, a comet, or planet X.
This sounds like a disabling heart attack or stroke followed by a crash or mechanical failure somewhere he could not get down safely. Never hurts to have company in the cockpit when you go up.