Wreck confirmed as Fossett plane

BBC ^ | October 2008 17:58 UK 6:58 GMT, Thursday, 2 | BBC Staff

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

The wreckage of a plane found near the town of Mammoth Lakes in California does belong to missing US adventurer Steve Fossett, officials say.

A number plate confirmed the plane as the Bellanca Super Decathlon owned by the 63-year-old millionaire. No body has yet been found.

The search began after a hiker found items thought to belong to Mr Fossett.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Officials doubted someone could have walked away from the crash

[united1000]

Wreckage of Fossett's Plane Found in Mammoth Lakes

Written by Benett Kessler   

Thursday, 02 October 2008

Search crews of the Minaret Trail in the mountains above Mammoth Lakes found the wreckage of Steve Fossett's single engine, Bellanca airplane that had slammed into the mountains in what has been described as a hard-impact crash.

Madera County took charge of the search since Fossett's identification cards were found inside the Madera County line high in the mountains. Madera County Sheriff John Anderson received word Wednesday night from a search and rescue team member that there appeared to be something in the dense forest that looked like it could be wreckage of a plane.

Ground teams did later confirm that the find was a plane and that the tag from the aircraft matched the plane Fossett was flying when he disappeared last September.

At last report, search crews had not found any human remains either in the plane wreckage or nearby. Cadaver dogs and search teams continued to scour the area for any sign of Fossett.

Authorities said that it appears the plane smashed hard into the mountains. The engine of the plane was about 300 feet away from the main wreckage.

As we have reported, Preston Morrow of Mammoth Lakes found Fossett's identification cards while on a hike off the Minaret Trail on Monday. Authorities said that Morrow found Fossett's Federal Aviation card and his Soaring Society of America card. He also found ten one hundred dollar bills in the same vicinity. Both the cards and the cash were well-worn from the elements.

On Tuesday, Morrow's boss, Tom Cage, had asked local bear man, Steve Searles to accompany Morrow and others on a trip back to the site in the mountains to get more definite co-ordinates of the location of the ID cards. They then turned everything over to Mammoth Police.
Cage and Morrow, with help from local attorney David Baumwohl, battled the onslaught of media to the area. The three men spent most of Wednesday answering phones and dealing with reporters and producers. It's a big story that started last September when Fossett went missing.

The 63 year old world-famous aviator had achieved as many as 100 world records. He was last seen when he took off on a flight from the Flying M Ranch in Nevada.

A wide and extensive search followed his disappearance. The Civil Air Patrol and many others searched for days over a wide vicinity of Nevada and California. Now, the search continues for Fossett's remains.

(Photos, courtesy of Mono County Search and Rescue)

 

 

 

 

    

 

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Thanks for adding to the thread....

Also:

Steve Fossett Items Found in Mammoth Lakes, CA: FAA ID Cards?

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

AP Report:

Sheriff: Search teams find Fossett wreckage

[flaglady47]

Putting my conspiracy cap on for a moment, if Fossett wanted to stage his own death, couldn’t he have parachuted out of the plane and let it crash, minus him? Keeps a stash of money on him, has hidden bank accounts in other countries, and just disappears? I wonder if his passport is missing. Then again, he’s probably deader than a doornail. But if he just wanted to get away from it all, .... well, perhaps we’ll soon know if they find any remains.

[dfwgator]

Sounds to me like he either stroked out or had a heart attack.

[Cementjungle]

Putting my conspiracy cap on for a moment, if Fossett wanted to stage his own death, couldn’t he have parachuted out of the plane and let it crash, minus him?

He could be living with D.B. Cooper on some Carribean island right now.

[Inyo-Mono]

[jonrick46]

My question is why did he drop all of that money and leave his I.D.s.?

[flaglady47]

“He could be living with D.B. Cooper on some Carribean island right now.”

LOL! Well, at least they both will have a lot of money to spend.

[The KG9 Kid]

Um, no.

If he wanted to fake his own death, I can’t imagine very many more worse places to bail out in parachute than the Sierra high country.

Come visit sometime and I’ll show you areas a short drive from my own house where he’d have had no chance trying such a thing.

[TheBlueMax]

They might not find a body, but where is the clothing? Animals may have found the crash site, but his clothing or some of it would remain at or near the site. This has not been reported or asked in the media yet.

[dfwgator]

I thought I saw him the other day, hanging out with Elvis and Jim Morrison.

[chadwimc]

“Get away from it all”? Why not just lock the gate to the estate and not answer the phone?

[flaglady47]

“Get away from it all”? Why not just lock the gate to the estate and not answer the phone?”

Because his wife was there?

[Robe]

From what was left from the “Grizzly Man”I understand the bears didn’t distinguish much from meat and clothes.. just ate it all and Sh@# what they didn’t need

[Cementjungle]

They might not find a body, but where is the clothing? Animals may have found the crash site, but his clothing or some of it would remain at or near the site. This has not been reported or asked in the media yet.

I would assume that if they find the body they would want to wait until the family has been notified and the body removed before announcing it, at least to prevent a circus atomsphere from developing in the area.

[jagusafr]

“But if he just wanted to get away from it all”

There’s precedent - Elvis, don’cha know...

Colonel, USAFR