Update on Steve Fossett

[Rick Lee]

This is pretty interesting. Now, when will they find D.B. Cooper too?

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/10/01/fossett.discovery/index.html

[onewhippedpuppy]

Really amazing that we can't find the guy, in this day and age, and with our technology.

[dhoward]

Mountain lion habitat shrinking.
Mountain lion hungry.
Hard to track mountain lion poop.

Apologies to charleskieffner .....

[onewhippedpuppy]

Nice haiku.

Yeah, but did they eat the plane too? I mean c'mon, are they THAT hungry?

[tabs]

No the Mountain Goats got the airplane Alumium...havn't you ever watched Green Acres...

[MikeSid]

Originally Posted by dhoward

Mountain lion habitat shrinking.
Mountain lion hungry.
Hard to track mountain lion poop.

Apologies to charleskieffner .....

That was a good juan!

[Heel n Toe]

Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy

Really amazing that we can't find the guy, in this day and age, and with our technology.

What's amazing to me is that apparently neither he nor his plane had any kind of tracking beacon or transponder on it.

Some say maybe he wanted to disappear.

Maybe he knew this whole financial meltdown hoohah was gonna happen and is chillin' in Costa Rica right now.

[slodave]

Originally Posted by Heel n Toe

What's amazing to me is that apparently neither he nor his plane had any kind of tracking beacon or transponder on it.

Even if the plane did, it could have impacted hard enough to render the device in-op. Also, the usual device in a private plane, has to be triggered by the a person and it is usually located outside and to the back of the plane.

My dad had his emergency locator switch rewired and now has the ability to turn it on from his seat - as he is going down.

[dhoward]

I always thought ELT's had G-Switches on them...

[slodave]

Originally Posted by dhoward

I always thought ELT's had G-Switches on them...

OK, forget the "User has to operate" part. The pilot can manually operate. Either way, they are easily damaged/destroyed and won't send much of a signal if the impact is great enough or plane hits the ground just right.

[Tim Hancock]

Originally Posted by dhoward

I always thought ELT's had G-Switches on them...

They all do. They are triggered by a sudden stop or deceleration in the forward direction. (eg: like flying head on into the side of a mountain)


It is possible to crash an airplane in a way that does not trigger it (a flat spin impacting the ground in a turning and or pancake direction could fail to trigger it).

Elt's indeed have a manual switch on them and are easily detached from the airframe so that a pilot making a safe landing in a remote area can remove it and take it with him as he hikes out towards civilization. Some aircraft also have a remote panel mounted switch to activate it from the cockpit.

Elt's are function tested at each annual inspection and most require a new battery pack every two years to remain legal.

[dhoward]

Originally Posted by slodave

OK, forget the "User has to operate" part. .....Snipped, just to poke fun....

Ah HAH!

[KevinP73]

It has also been reported that he wore a GPS watch. For some un-explained reason he had failed to wear it on the day he disappeared. Leading to the suspicion that he faked his disappearance. Although the state has declared him dead the insurance company has yet to pay.

[slodave]

Originally Posted by dhoward

Ah HAH!

Sniff, ya caught me!

I try not to think about crashing airplanes. Bad for the psyche.

[jyl]

weathered sweat shirt, cash and a pilot's license with Fossett's name were found Tuesday near Mammoth Lakes

His plane took off from Minden NV which is about 100 miles from Mammoth Lakes CA.

You guys who know more about the Fossett situation - what do these new facts imply?

[304065]

It's only about 75 miles southwest of the departure airport, I measured it with Google maps.

[KevinP73]

Originally Posted by jyl

weathered sweat shirt, cash and a pilot's license with Fossett's name were found Tuesday near Mammoth Lakes

His plane took off from Minden NV which is about 100 miles from Mammoth Lakes CA.

You guys who know more about the Fossett situation - what do these new facts imply?

IMHO they don't mean a thing. Fossett hadn't filed a flight plan and had not really told anyone where he intended to fly. Suspicious? Those items found could have easily been "planted" by himself or someone perpetuating the hoax. The fact that ALL the safety equipment available to him failed all at the same time is more than suspicious to me.

[KevinP73]

Plus I'd like to hear a few details of the hiker who found this debris. Was he some Joe Hiker out for a stroll on well traveled trails or was he some survivalist on a 3 month journey where no man has gone before? It's hard to imagine how someone can find Fossett's pocket contents but not the big ole plane he was flying in.

[dhoward]

Pocket contents were undigestable.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

ELTs do have G switches in them and most aircraft have an "ARM/ON" switch installed within easy reach of the pilot's seat.

That said, I've done plenty of flying around the MMH area - lots of places to disappear up there. There are ravines and gullies up that way that probably haven't seen human footprints since the dawn of time. Flying in/around there can get downright treacherous too - weather can blow in VERY quickly (especially in winter), density altitude, box canyons, downdrafts, etc. There are lots and lots of exciting and creative ways to kill onesself up there if you're so inclined.

A simple engine failure in a single-engine airplane up there could very easily be a one way ticket to the afterlife. I can't wait to hear what turns up in the investigation, but my suspicion is Mr. Fossett did not "play it safe" with his route selection and apply the one rule that SHOULD BE drilled into every single-engine pilot's head from Day #1 - "know where the F you're going when the big fan out front stops spinning". That's speculation on my part, but I've seen this too many times - the NTSB database is FULL of these kinds of stories.