Fosset Search Continues Over Wider Area

Rescue Teams Expand Search To 10,000 Square Miles Of California And Nevada; Hopes Remain High

(AP)  Pilots and rescue teams searching for missing adventurer Steve Fossett expanded their target area to 10,000 square miles of California and Nevada on Thursday and planned to use sonar to search a lake where the multimillionaire could have crashed.

"As you can imagine, trying to make that needle stand out in a haystack that big is going to be a real challenge," Nevada Civil Air Patrol Maj. Cynthia Ryan said. "It's going to be frustrating for a lot of people who were hoping for results early on."

Ryan said the intensive aerial, ground and water search for Fossett could last two weeks or longer. "Four days into it, we are still scratching the surface," she said.

Air crews were making multiple passes over the same areas but at different times of the day to check under different lighting conditions. The jagged peaks and steep canyons of the region cast shadows that can interfere with the views of search crews.

Nevada Highway Patrol Trooper Chuck Allen said a sonar-equipped boat would search Walker Lake, about 15 miles from the Flying M Ranch where Fossett took off on Monday, to determine whether his plane could be beneath the surface. The lake stretches for about 18 miles.

"It will allow people on the boat to rule this area out as a potential place the plane could have ended up," he said Thursday.

In all, the expanded search area is 200 to 300 miles wide and stretches 120 miles south from the small town of Yerington, Nev., to Bishop, Calif., on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada. In all, it's an area about the size of Massachusetts.

Ryan said it now also includes the Black Rock Desert far to the north, where land speed records have been attempted in the past.

Fossett was on a mission to study possible dry lake beds for a planned attempt to break the world land speed record when he disappeared on Monday.

"We're going to find this guy, but it's a big country," Civil Air Patrol Maj. Terry Vanzant said shortly before taking to the sky Thursday morning.

National Guard C-130s and helicopters with thermal imaging equipment searched the soaring peaks and sagebrush desert of northwest Nevada on Wednesday but failed to find anything new, Ryan said.

Fossett's friends, meanwhile, remained confident that the world-famous adventurer is alive. They point to his experience climbing some of the world's best-known peaks, including the Matterhorn in Switzerland.

"If anyone has to be lost out there, this man has the skills to survive," Ryan said Wednesday. "With water, he could live out there for two weeks."

Fossett's plane, a Bellanca Citabria Super Decathlon, carried both water and food, but there also were troubling signs: The missing plane's locator device had not sent a signal, there had been no communication from the plane's radio, and an emergency wristwatch Fossett wore to signal his location had not been activated.

Ryan said Thursday that the terrain could make communication difficult and the emergency devices might not be able to send out a signal properly if Fossett was deep in a canyon.

Some veteran pilots speculated he may have fallen victim to the treacherous Sierra Nevada winds that squeeze through the narrow canyons.

"There's been times when I've been flying in the wind and my blood turns cold," said Adam Mayberry, a private pilot and former spokesman for the Reno-Tahoe International Airport.

On Wednesday, the searchers were briefly encouraged when one aerial team spotted a downed aircraft it believed was Fossett's. But a helicopter crew determined the wreckage was from one of dozens of old downed planes that litter the region's canyons.

Fossett is familiar with danger and high-octane rescues, after years of breaking - or attempting to break - speed and distance records on land and by air. He has held 116 such records.

Fossett aborted a 1996 attempt to be the first person to circumnavigate the globe in a balloon when his electrical system failed. He landed in a farmer's field near Maine.

In August 1998, Fossett's balloon crashed into the Coral Sea about 500 miles off Australia's coast during his fourth attempt to circle the globe. It plunged 29,000 feet after it was struck by hail and lightning during a fierce storm. He was rescued by the crew of a yacht days later.

Fossett finally succeeded in circumnavigating the globe in a balloon in 2002, and three years later became the first solo pilot to circle the globe in an airplane without refueling.

Professor Ray Arvidson, chairman of the Earth and Planetary Sciences Department at Washington University in St. Louis, worked at the ground operations center for three of Fossett's balloon flights.

"I'm worried," Arvidson said, "but this guy is a survivor."

[Krazcarl]

berniepeders Have you ever done anything besides going to the market? This MAN flew a balloon around the world he may not be a hero to you but to most men of adventure he was to be looked up to if you knew anything besides second grade math you''d realize the daring and complexities of this adventure. Yes he had some strong backing for good reason he could deliver. What most of us only imagine he did if your so braindead that you can''t comprehend the feeling of what it must have been like to set down a balloon after circling the entire planet what can I say. Sometimes heros aren''t the most men killed and or lucky there men of vision and daring.

[kgilber3]

General question - does anyone actually think that this is a story that is "newsworthy" beyond a two-hour period?

[ufoenjeneer]

He was obviously abducted by alien beings, plane and all, so they can study the Citabria and probe Fosset. If it was the beings from Alpha Decarius 775,I hope he gets back alright. Don''t ask me how I know (what a trip that was).

[tail_honcho]

Fosset and Branson are not only great men that succeeded in business, but are top shelf visionaries. It is hard to define them as heroes, but they certainly do great things to advance the human race. I hope Steve is found alive and lives many more years.

[bbonva]

Steve, you cannot disappear that way. Not you. Europe has been watching you for years ; we admire you, for yourself, for your courage, your smile (always) and your discretion also. While the others talk and talk, you act.Un grand bravo for all your performances but revenez-nous vite car sans vous, l''aventure ne sera plus la mjme. Without you, adventure will not be the same. Switzerland loves you. annick bonvin, Monthey.

[jetranger7]

Well PIPP13 I''d suggest you call the Nevada Civil Air Patrol for starters !! Google Nevada Civil Air Patrol, you should get the number there !! What gives you this idea anyway ??????

[on_final]

he7ro /%u02C8h%u026A%u0259ro%u028A/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[heer-oh] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
%u2013noun, plural -roes; for 5 also -ros. 1. a man of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities.
We are all heros to someone at some time.

[berniepeders]

I''m afraid I can''t quite understand references to Mr. Fossett as a "hero". He''s just an extremely wealthy man with not much else to do but spend some of his money doing something he enjoys (flying). How does that qualify him as a hero?

[on_final]

Fosset chose the perfect plane to fly in the area. The Citabria. The pane will not be damaged by sudden wind shear and can land anywhere. The plane will survive, the pilot will survive.

[pipp13]

They need to search the area: 14 MILES WEST! (The railroad--copper & mineral mining/mill area!) That is where he is at! I KNOW IT! How/Who do I contact to let the searchers know? PLEASE HELP!!!