Confirmed: Adventurer Steven Fossett Died In Plane Crash

Legendary aviator Stephen Fossett died in a plane crash on Labor Day weekend, 2007.  After more than a year of searching for Fossett’s plane, a hiker walked up on the scene of the wreckage just a couple of weeks ago.  Today, it is being confirmed that bone fragments and DNA taken from the wreckage do match that of Steve Fossett.  This should leave little argument that he may have faked his own death, or may be hiding in another realm.

A California Department of Justice Forensics lab has determined that items containing DNA — discovered last week — match James Stephen Fossett’s DNA,” the Madera County, California, sheriff-coroner’s office said in a statement.Office spokeswoman Erica Stuart said the match of the DNA in the bones discovered last Wednesday brings her office’s investigation to an end.

This should put to end one of the largest manhunts and search and rescue operations in United States history.  Fossett, who was known as a daring adventurer and billionaire business tycoon had set over 100 world records in aviation, sailing, hot air ballooning, and other adventures.

The day his plane had went down, it was speculated that Steven had been scoping out the desert salt flats for a possible attempt at the world land speed record.  Just recently, more news has surfaced that Steven Fossett may have had some even bigger plans in the works, including a trip to the bottom of the Pacific in the world’s deepest ocean dive.

With the results of the bone and DNA testing now complete, perhaps Steven Fossett’s family can rest a little more quietly knowing that Steven has definitely been found.  Over the past year, Fossett’s disappearance has sparked some myth-like proportions playing to the many likenesses of his disappearance with that of another aviation legend, Amelia Earhardt.  At least one mystery has now been solved.

Lengendary Aviator Steve Fossett’s Plane Found, But Where’s Steve Fossett?

Steven Fossett’s plane has finally been discovered. News came out yesterday that a local ski guide had discovered some papers belonging to the legendary adventurer, while he was out hiking a trail above Mammoth Lakes, California.  These papers, which included an FAA plane license from the state of Illinois, would become instrumental in helping authorities locate the wreckage of Mr. Fossett’s plane.

This morning, the Associated Press began running a news item saying Mr. Fossett’s plane had been found.  The plane, which had been missing for a year, was discovered on a mountainside.  Authorities said the plane looked to have taken a direct hit into the rugged Sierra Nevada mountainside.  The area of the finding is part of the Inyo National Forest.

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BREAKING: Hiker Discovers Stephen Fossett Items In California Mountains

A local hiker has discovered what appears to be two FAA licenses and some cash that belonged to the late (still missing) adventurer Stephen Fossett.  The items were found on a trail above Mammoth Lakes, California in an area near Minaret Lake and Minaret Mine.

Stephen Fossett has been missing since September 1st of 2007.  Many people believe that his plane went down, but up till now, no clues have ever been found.  This could be a very big break in this ongoing saga.  Search teams are heading in to the area in hopes that the paper trail will lead them to the plane, and to Stephen Fossett.  After a few months of searching, Stephen Fossett was declared deceased by his wife and the U.S. government.

Since this is a breaking news item, I will continue to run with this post and update it with any new or breaking information as I get it.  Check back for the latest updates.

Legendary Adventurer Stephen Fossett Interviewed AFTER Dissappearance…An Adventurist Exclusive (With The Interview)

Welcome To The Adventurist Daily Grail Readers! Check Out The Interview, and Post Your Thoughts…then have a look around at the rest of the site.  Glad to See You Stop By!! You Can Return To your Home site, by clicking here.

Legendary adventurer and aviator Stephen Fossett disappeared over Labor Day weekend in 2007.  His disappearance would spark the nation’s largest search and rescue effort in history and pave the way for many theories and speculations on what exactly took place. To this day, he has never been heard from, nor found.  That is, until now.

The Adventurist received an interesting comment today from someone claiming to be speaking with the legendary adventurer.  This person has released an interview to The Adventurist, from the famed aviator, supposedly taking place on March 25, 2008–six months after Mr. Fossett’s disappearance.  The interview will be featured momentarily.

First, I must add that I am not here to say this is real or imagined.  I take no responsibility for any claims or retribution associated with this Interview and am only presenting it as it has been presented to myself.  The commenter on my site shared the information, of which I am now sharing with you.  I will let all of you be the judge to the merits of this and of what is actually taking place, while holding no responsibility in regards to this being true or the actual facts presented.

Click Below to Read the full Interview:

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Steven Fossett: Did Adventurer (and Billionaire) Fake His Own Death??

UPDATE>>>Read The Civil Air Patrol’s Response To Claims

UPDATE II>>>Stephen Fosett Interview Emerges After Disappearance

Stephen Fossett’s death may have been faked. News reports are starting to surface that the late adventurer may have faked his own death to shy away from financial problems, as well as two allegations of extramarital affairs.

MSNBC has put out a very public report and video claiming what many have questioned all along, that billionaire adventurer Steven Fossett could have done the inevitable and faked his own death. No plane has ever been found. No body has ever turned up. Quite simply, he disappeared.

Steven Fossett disappeared while making a preliminary flyover while looking for an area to stage his next big adventure, an attepmt the world land speed record. He was reported missing on September 4, 2007 when he failed to return from his flight. I have covered his disappearance and the nationwide search that ensued, quite extensively. After a couple of weeks of searching, with no clues as to what happened to Mr. Fossett, whispers began to circulate that he may have decided to disappear on his own merits.

From the UK’s Telegraph:

I discovered that there is absolutely no proof that Steve Fossett is actually dead. I’m not a conspiracy theorist, I’m a man who deals in facts, and I don’t really care if he is alive or dead, it make no difference to me.”What I am interested in is the truth - and a proper criminal investigation of this man’s disappearance was never undertaken by law enforcement or officials in the state of Nevada.”

This comment is being made by Robert Davis, the man responsible for conducting an eight month investigation into the Steven Fossett case.  Mr. Davis works for Loyd’s of London, the company that could end up paying out £25 million from Mr. Fossett’s life insurance.

Lt. Col. Cynthia Ryan, of the U.S. Civil Air Patrol has also went on record saying that Mr. Fossett could still be alive.  She said that it is unthinkable that searchers could discover six separate air accidents while looking for Mr. Fossett, but not come up with a single clue to his own demise.

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Stephen Fossett Search Continues

The search for legendary aviatar and multi-billionaire adventurer Steven Fossett is set to commence once more.  Stephen Fossett, while out scoping the Salt Flats for a new land speed record attempt, went missing on Labor Day weekend last year.  This sparked a huge effort to find Stephen Fossett, including a $10,000 reward and hundreds of amateur SAR personnel scanning the area on Google Maps in hopes of finding Stephen’s wrecked plane.  They didn’t find Stephen or his plane, but more than 10 other aviation accidents were located and mapped throughout this process.

The legend of Steve Fossett has continued to foster thoughts that Stephen decided to disappear on his own accord.  He has not been heard from since Labor Day weekend.  No body or plane has been recovered, or even found.  His family suggests that he wouldn’t do this, but the rumors still run rampant.

What Is Known

I began covering this search when it first started.  Many of us knew Steven through his many adventures.  Who will forget Stephen Fossett and Sir Richard Branson’s quest (and race) to become the first person to fly solo, around the world, in a hot air balloon?  This was put up by all the media giants and featured prominently on front pages of newspapers around the world.

This wasn’t Steven Fossett’s only grand adventure, though.  He has broken over 100 world records over his adventuring career, including records in Ballooning and aviation.  Over 80 of them still stand.

Trouble began on Labor Day weekend of 2007.  Steve had borrowed a plane to do some searching for a proper area to carry out his next big adventure, an attempt at the world land speed record.  No flight plan was recorded.  Steven, being a legend in aviation, and not doing anything most of his friends and family considered risky, did not see any reason that one should be filed.  He failed to return back to the remote ranch (owned by the Hilton Matriarch–yes, that Hilton.  Paris’ famous billionaire father).

Many people, at first, seen no reason to worry.  Steve was just out doing what Steve does–having fun.  After a few hours though, with no word from Stephen Fossett, reality started to sink in that there may be a problem.  Family and friends alerted local authorities, but still were not to worried.

Steven Fossett had been in trouble before.  On more than one occasion, death loomed around the corner but Steven was always able to pull through and survive.  He had vast amounts of training in wilderness survival and knew what it took to stay alive.

In the ensuing days and weeks ahead, Stephen Fossett’s training and lack of preparation would be questioned.  Why would he not file a flight plan?  Why was no distress signal given, even though his plane was equipped with the latest in technological advances?  If he had crashed and survived, why was no signal given from Stephen?  Surely he knew how to signal for help.

The Elements

Western Nevada is a rugged country-one where heat scorches the open ground during the day, and by night, it can get down-right cold.  Western Nevada is also marred my deep valleys and ravines that can swallow a 747 without thinking twice, or even leave a trace of existence.  It is a rough country full of rough elements.

During the search for Stephen Fossett, more than 10 planes were discovered wrecked in the area.  These planes dated back to World War II, but some were more recent, as well.  These planes were not known to exist.  For the past 5-10-50 years, these planes were simply mentioned as a disappearance, with no explanation given.  Family and friends had no idea where their loved ones were, or what even became of them.  That is how rugged Western Nevada is.  Things just disappear.

Many of the planes discovered throughout the Stephen Fossett search have now been mapped.  A few remains were recovered and sent to their rightful families, others though, had simply vanished with time and the coyotes.

Nine Months Later

It has now been nine months since Stephen Fossett disappeared.  By all means, this is a recovery process more than a rescue.  Stephen Fossett was legally declared dead on February 15th of this year in an Illinois court.

Current efforts will involve a bit less manpower, but a more strategic search plan.  Two teams of volunteers are heading out to the last known place where Steve was seen, in the Eastern Sierra’s.  Over the coming months, those two teams plan to search ledges, crevices, steep canyons, and cliffs, as well as some really tough-to-get-to, out-of-reach places.  These areas are what is left from a 20,000 square mile search area.  Volunteers, who were originally involved in this search, are providing their knowledge and maps to the volunteers ready to set out.  Hopefully, Steven Fossett can be found and his body recovered.  Many people who have put in time and effort would like to breath a bit easier knowing that a legendary adventurer has been brought home.  The Adventurist wishes them the best.

An Adventurist Editorial: The Stephen Fossett Debates

We should have all seen this one coming from a mile away–

Going into days 5 and 6 for the ongoing search of legendary adventurer Steven Fossett, people are starting to take their focus off of the search and more onto the debates surrounding these types of events when they occur–

First it began with how great of an adventurer Steven Fossett is.  Over the past few days this focus has slowly moved to the motives of a “Risk-Taker” and if Stephen Fossett’s family should be charged for the search currently taking place.

Both of these items are highly debatable and both of them generally always surround a high profile search, especially if the person involved was also a part of anything that has a certain risk-factor to it or has been the focus of media attention in the past.

Personally, I began taking notice of these debates around December of last year when three climbers became lost on Mt. Hood.  The ensuing search, that garnered massive media coverage, soon became a debate for a cause. 

It may be the cause of the general media’s focus to always provide something new to a highly viewed (and rated) story.  Running out of new leads, they hop back on the bus and get everyone involved in raging debates that once again spark interest to previous stories of the same general nature.

Two questions always emerge:  Should the families of the person being searched for have to pay for this service?  And secondly–the risk involved.  How could they do this to their families and loved ones?  What is it about risk that triggers these people to always endanger their lives? Read more

Steve Fossett: Your Thoughts, Your Views, Your Prayers

 Join the Stephen Fossett Discussion in the Adventurist Forums 

In December of 2006, tragedy struck on Mt. Hood.  During the ensuing coverage that myself, as well as many others provided, I opened up a forum for you, the viewers, to post your thoughts, views, and prayers.   This became such a popular area that family and friends of the stranded climbers came here for support and encouragement.

At this time, as the search for world class adventurer Steven Fossett goes into Day 5, I am once again opening up a post for you, the readers. Read more

The Search For Stephen Fossett Expands, Family Having ‘Tough Time’

Join the Stephen Fossett Discussion in the Adventurist Forums 

Day 4 is coming to a close in the search for Legendary Aviator and World Record Holder Steve Fossett.

I updated everyone early today with news of a few new leads and an expansion of the search area from 600 square miles to 10,000.  Tonight news is airing that the search has once again expanded, this time to 17,000 square miles.

Family members and friends who believe that Steve Fossett may have just gotten stranded–are starting to get a bit more concerned.

Sheriff Joe Sanford, spokesperson for the ongoing search for Steve Fossett is saying that everyone is still “hopeful” but the family is subdued and having a tough time with all of this.

The on going search efforts in Nevada and California are being conducted with at least 26 aircraft at this time including Blackhawk Helicopters and C-130 Planes. 

This is a major, major undertaking going on for one of the world’s greatest pilots and adventurers.  Stephen Fossett holds no less than 80 current world records in 5 different areas including Ballooning, Sailing, and Aviation.  He has been missing since Monday when his plane failed to return.  He has not been heard from since.

Earlier today, CNN was reporting that there were four new leads into where Steve Fossett may be.  Each of those leads have been investigated at this time and have turned up nothing.

More News on the Search for Stephen Fossett

As is the case with most Breaking News stories, information will be coming out fast and furious.

The first update of note involves Stephen Fossett’s flight plan.  It is being widely reported that Mr. Fossett failed to file a flight plan, and this has hampered the search for his missing plane. 

It is now being noted that it is perfectly customary for planes using visual navigation to not file such flight plans and is the current practice with many pilots.

The search for Stephen Fossett and his plane is currently being conducted over harsh land in western Nevada.  The search includes six aircraft with three man crews, who are currently battling high winds in the search effort.

The blackbox associated with Mr. Fossett’s plane has not been activated, leading many to believe that this shows a possible sign that there was not a hard impact of the aircraft.  The tracking devices are set to activate if a hard impact is involved. 

Mr. Fossett’s flight took off from the Flying M Ranch, 30 miles south of Yerington, Nevada, and seems to be where the search is partially conducting efforts.

Let’s all hope that this turns out well for Mr. Fossett.  He is an incredible individual and we will keep him in our thoughts as the search for Stephen Fossett continues..

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