Search On For Adventurer Steve Fossett

63-Year-Old Aviator's Small Plane Missing 2 Days After Nevada Take Off; Friends Hopeful

(CBS/AP)  Crews scouring an unforgiving landscape of rugged mountains, sagebrush-filled desert and steep ravines for famed aviator Steve Fossett were counting on help Wednesday from the lighter winds that were forecast for the search's second day.

High gusts and heavy turbulence hampered the aerial search for the millionaire adventurer on Tuesday, a day after his single-engine plane disappeared within a vast expanse of the Nevada wilderness.

Rescuers Wednesday had higher hopes of finding something because there was little wind to interfere with their aerial search efforts, unlike Tuesday, said Gary Derks, operations officer for the Nevada Division of Emergency Management.

The aerial search Tuesday included 14 aircraft conducting grid searches over 7,500 square miles - an area larger than Connecticut. The search on Wednesday was intended to concentrate on 600 square miles.

"This man has a wonderful history of being able to walk out on his own. He's done it more than once," said Maj. Cynthia Ryan of the Civil Air Patrol at a mid-morning briefing.

Fossett, the first person to circle the world solo in a balloon, was reported missing Monday night. He took off in a single-engine plane that morning from an airstrip at hotel magnate Barron Hilton's Flying M Ranch, about 70 miles southeast of Reno.

"The mountain peaks around here can get really rugged. There are a lot of ravines that are hard to search ... a lot of nooks and crannies we have to look at," Ryan said.

She said the angle of the sun changes the view in valleys and ravines throughout the day.

It was not known what kind of survival gear, if any, Fossett might have had with him. He was planning just a short flight before returning to the private air strip at the Hilton ranch.

Fossett's close friend Sir Richard Branson, a British billionaire adventurer himself and chief of the massive Virgin commercial empire, expressed concern for the 63-year-old but said he was a survivor.

"I'm still optimistic. We've had situations like this with Steve before and he's always bounced back," Branson said in a telephone interview on CBS News' The Early Show. "Obviously, the longer it goes on, the more worrying it is because if he's injured in a plane crash, he's obviously going to need medical help, he's going to need attention."

Ryan would not speculate about how many days someone might survive in the terrain, but she and longtime associates of the 63-year-old adventurer said he had proven survival skills.

"He's a very savvy and methodical and determined pilot. I'd give him the highest odds," she said.

"If he got the plane down and is not too badly hurt, I'm absolutely certain that Steve could last some days in the desert," Branson, left, with Fossett, told Early Show co-anchor Harry Smith. "He's got more endurance than anybody else I know on earth. And certainly more capable than anyone else on earth to survive."

Branson, who has helped finance many of Fossett's adventures, said Fossett had been scouting dry lake beds as a possible location for a future attempt to break the world's land speed record of 766.6 mph.

Winds gusting up 40 mph on Tuesday kept the search planes from flying as low to the ground or as close to the 10,000-foot peaks as they'd like, Ryan said.

One Civil Air Patrol pilot said turbulence was so bad that his aircraft dropped 1,500 feet in about three seconds. The downdrafts and gusts also provide a very real danger: They can come out of nowhere to push aircraft into the granite mountainsides if pilots aren't careful.

"It's provided a real bouncy ride for our searchers and that makes it really difficult to look at what's on the ground," Ryan said.

The millionaire aviator did not file a flight plan. His plane, a Bellanca Citabria Super Decathlon, carried a locator that sends a satellite signal after a rough landing, but officials said they had picked up no locator signals from the plane or radio communication.

Even if the plane locator failed, Fossett usually wears a Breitling Emergency watch that allows pilots to easily signal their location, said Granger Whitelaw, co-founder of the Rocket Racing League.

"They're registered to us personally, so they know it's you," he said by phone Wednesday from New York. There had been no word of such a signal by Wednesday.

The Decathlon is used primarily for aerobatics and it is built to withstand the stresses and g-forces encountered during tight turns and maneuvers, reported CBS News correspondent Nancy Cordes. While Fossett is obviously a fan of experimental aircraft, he is not known to be an aficionado of aerobatics.

Nevada National Guard planes and helicopters in the rescue effort are equipped with infrared and other high-tech vision equipment, said Col. Craig Wroblewski, the Guard's director of operations.

With infrared cameras, darkness can make it easier for search and rescue teams to spot a downed pilot - if still alive - because body heat can make a figure appear to glow against a dark terrain.

The aircraft worked into the night Tuesday, but there was no sign of the pilot or his plane.

"We just want to find him alive," Wroblewski said.

The search area stretches in three directions from Yerington, which is 35 miles southeast of Carson City and is separated from the state capital by an impassable mountain range. Searchers are not looking north of Yerington because Fossett indicated he was headed south and took off in that direction.

In 2002, Fossett became the first person to fly around the world alone in a balloon. In two weeks, his balloon flew 19,428.6 miles around the Southern Hemisphere. In March 2005, he became the first person to fly a plane solo around the world without refueling.

"Steve is a tough old boot. I suspect he is waiting by his plane right now for someone to pick him up," Branson said.

A telephone message left for a Peggy Fossett in Beaver Creek, Colo., where Steve Fossett lives, was not immediately returned. Ryan said Fossett's wife was at the Flying M Ranch on Tuesday.

[agnim]

"A successful businessman who does more than retire with his earnings.
Posted by andor3 at 05:05 AM : Sep 06, 2007"

A so-called ''successful businessman'' who made his ''earnings'' OFF OTHER PEOPLE''S LABOR, and then blew the earnings, which the workers could have better used for more life-sustaining purposes.

If the workers were more justly rewarded for their hours of weekly toil, then we wouldn''t have so many greedy businessmen with so much wealth with which to crash, burn and waste!

[flo43223]

God be with you Steve.

[drinuk]

That bunch of nuts at Area 51 probably shot him down, AND Groom Lake cannot be searched, they will never find Anything if he strayed in there, no clues will ever be found. Unless of course they move the wreckage to another site, which of course they will do if under pressure to search the area.

[Krazcarl]

I agree andor3. I can only imagine the thrill of circling the earth in a balloon. Let''s hope for the best we NEED men of adventure and daring.

[andor3]

someone who is totally clueless said: What we have here is either a lost lunatic or a selfish, self-centered and self-absorbed individual, or BOTH!"

Mr. Fossett is a hero many times over. His adventures show the best and most noble aspects of the human spirit and inspire us all. A successful businessman who does more than retire with his earnings.

I bet not one searcher will regret having taken risks in looking for him. Personally, I hope he is found and has a great story to tell.

[colonieny]

While we fret, there is a poor 11 year old who was raped July 2006 in Fresno Ca, by a group of college footballers, all let go and still playing ball. Is this right ? The story was way far anti- PC and the media dropped it, even in Fresno. Erased hx anyone. 1984 ?
Speaking of erased HX, try to find the names of the 54 people ( race Asian, White, and one Hispanic ) who were killed by rioters during the LA riots. The LA Times has erased all references to those days, thus letting the daily record be rewritten by spin. Who died ? Can anyone find a list ? These people were on their way home, and pulled from their cars and killed, for race reasons. The Shame. To forget. shouldn''t there be a memorial to these people, who are us ?

[robertkjjj]

I think Fossett is great, and certainly hope they find him OK. That said, these type of things usually don''t turn out well, and the more time passes, the worse it looks. I find it curious nobody is mentioning water. If he made a survivable landing, does he have water with him? Is there much water in this area at all? It''s very warm this type of year, and 3 days is about the longest one can go without the stuff. This is looking worse and worse by the hour. Very sad.

[agnim]

TAKING BETS!

What are the odds that Foss is beginning the process of becoming a fossil?

Dead or alive?

After all, this is the year that many American so-called ''adventurers'' have been going out of their way to never come back alive, and endanger the health and lives of those foolish enough to go looking for people who would rather we ''leave them alone''! LOL

[toolmangler-2009]

What we have here is either a lost lunatic or a selfish, self-centered and self-absorbed individual, or BOTH!
Posted by Agnim at 05:27 PM : Sep 05, 2007



Shouldn''t talk about yourself like that, it might make people wonder.

[valentin73]

Amanda Earhart: You are not alone

[jetranger7]

I Made this Video of Fossett and posted it on YOU TUBES Web Site !! type in his name in YOU TUBES Search engine ! WWW.YOUTUBE.COM

[reporter21]

Girl, 3, Left In Car; Tourist Couple Arrested....
Paris, France, was arrested Tuesday after police said they left their 3-year-old daughter in a car while they shopped at Wal-Mart.....Cont...
www.poconocommunitynews.com

[reporter21]

Halle Berry pregnant at 41....Oscar winner Halle Berry is pregnant with her first baby at 41, she confirmed last night....Do you believe this?
read more about this one at: www.poconocommunitynews.com/HOLLYWOODTODAY

[agnim]

"The reports of Fossett heading south after his takeoff from Minden are questionable.

Posted by RMBlevins at 05:52 AM : Sep 05, 2007"

"Heading south" questionable, maybe.
But quite telling and foreshadowing, definitely. LOL

[agnim]

"He''s a very savvy and methodical and determined pilot. I''d give him the highest odds," she said. "

LOL

And he left NO INSTRUCTIONS so that he could be easily found; searchers could lose their health and lives searching for him; how so-called ''savvy and methodical'' is that? Tsk tsk.

What we have here is either a lost lunatic or a selfish, self-centered and self-absorbed individual, or BOTH!

[robertkjjj]

Let there be no doubt about it: this is a great man we''re talking about. He''s not only the world''s greatest living adventurer, but one of the greatest ever. He''s the Charles Lindbergh of our times, and we all hope he comes back safe. Each day that goes by without a trace of him is very scary, and not a good sign at all. I fear the worst at this point. Very sad.

[searcher911]

Unfortunately, 121.5 MHz ELT''s (Emergency Locater Transmitters) are not terribly reliable. They are activated by a g-load in a certain direction and rely upon an antenna. If the load is in a different direction, if the antenna is broken, if the g-load in insufficient (like when the aircraft deformation absorbs some of the shock), if the ELT is damaged, or there is a fire there will be no ELT transmission to track.

[everrea104]

Come on Steve, I followed your adventures with the Hot Air Balloons, as I was on crew for a Hot Air Balloon and the pilot I crewed for was their with you to help launch. We need you back here for more of your adventures Please God let him come home safe and sound.

[apndrgn]

If he survives it would be nice to see him do something with alternate energy, like fly a steam engine. There was a fellow who played the fiddle while Rome burned. One might say he was riding the thermals of a burning rome.

[duffyn]

I sure hope they find Steve. Talk about an adrenaline junkie!!!!