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Bones Found Near Crash Site Confirmed Fossett's

Posted by kdawson on from the closure-and-rest dept.

Trip6 writes "Bones found near the wreckage of the plane flown by Steve Fossett when he disappeared last fall have been confirmed to be Fossett's by DNA analysis. The NTSB is still investigating the crash. Fossett may have been searching for a place to break the land speed record, his next quest."

32 of 129 comments (clear)

  1. I was right! by Skiron · · Score: 4, Funny

    New World Record!

  2. Sad news. by jcr · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The mad died doing what he loved, flying a plane. I guess the lesson is that no matter how much experience a pilot has, flying is still a risky business.

    -jcr

    --
    The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
    1. Re:Sad news. by Konster · · Score: 5, Insightful

      No, he didn't die while flying a plane. He died while crashing a plane.

    2. Re:Sad news. by digitalchinky · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I suspect we will never know why his aircraft belted in to the side of the mountain in clear air - cloud cover was apparently much higher at the time, so visibility was good.

      I can well imagine he was incapacitated or dead before impact - the other possibility is suicide I guess.

    3. Re:Sad news. by jcr · · Score: 5, Informative

      I can well imagine he was incapacitated or dead before impact

      Could have had a CO leak into the cockpit, a stroke, a heart attack... Since it was so long after the crash the remains were found, we'll probably never know.

      -jcr

      --
      The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
    4. Re:Sad news. by Konster · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Clear air doesn't always mean safe air. Given his altitude, airframe icing may be a cause.

      Nor does experience mean the pilot will always make the best decisions...experience is the best teacher only if you always listen to it, combined with good judgment.

      I'd guess a mechanical failure of some sort. Carb door coming off and getting sucked into the manifold, bearing/crank/valve train failure, fuel delivery, whatever. Any number of problems that may arise while perhaps toodling around low and slow become huge almost unmanageable problems very quickly. The transition from aircraft to glider to lawn dart can be astoundingly quick and fully outside the bounds of any pilot to fix.

    5. Re:Sad news. by nmg196 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The vast majority of plane crashes occur while the planes are flying.
      Very few simply crash while they're sitting in the hangar - so he was still flying when he crashed I expect.

    6. Re:Sad news. by MrNaz · · Score: 5, Funny

      The vast majority of plane crashes occur while the planes are flying.

      Look, if you're going to make wild claims like that, I want to see some statistics to back them up.

      --
      I hate printers.
    7. Re:Sad news. by RuBLed · · Score: 3, Interesting

      What if he had a heart attack and died while flying the plane?

    8. Re:Sad news. by jcr · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Well, I remember this crash, but I haven't heard of too many others like it.

      -jcr

      --
      The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
    9. Re:Sad news. by ozmanjusri · · Score: 2, Informative
      Could have had a CO leak into the cockpit

      You don't need CO.

      http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2002/03/23/1016843080716.html

      --
      "I've got more toys than Teruhisa Kitahara."
    10. Re:Sad news. by Lumpy · · Score: 2, Informative

      given his altitude, if he was not wearing an oxygen mask or in a pressurized cabin, he may have simply fell asleep.

      It's incredibly easy to lose consciousness at the altitude he was as if you are not vigilant at conserving your personal energy... In fact at 10,000 feet it's plain old stupid not to be wearing an air mask in that plane.

      --
      Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
    11. Re:Sad news. by bigsteve@dstc · · Score: 2, Funny
      All right ....

      98.4% of plane crashes occur while the planes are flying.

      Happy now?

    12. Re:Sad news. by barzok · · Score: 3, Informative

      The vast majority of plane crashes occur while the planes are flying.

      No, they occur when the plane ceases flight.

    13. Re:Sad news. by MBGMorden · · Score: 2, Informative

      10,000 isn't THAT bad. Most people are fine at that altitude. By regulations you're not expressly required to use supplemental oxygen until 14,500 feet. You do have to use it however if you go above 12,500 feet (but less than the 14,500 ft mark) for more than 30 minutes.

      Typically, FAA regulations are actually very well worded, and most good pilots tend to heed them very well. I don't think hypoxia was an issue here.

      --
      "People who think they know everything are very annoying to those of us who do."-Mark Twain
    14. Re:Sad news. by Martin+Blank · · Score: 2, Informative

      That's been extended as of around June, I think. Third-class certificates now last 60 calendar months if the person is under 40. The change is retroactive, so if you're two years into your 36-month certificate, you're now two years into your 60-month certificate.

      --
      You can never go home again... but I guess you can shop there.
  3. Land speed record? by nacturation · · Score: 2, Funny

    I'd say he possibly broke the speed landing record.

    --
    Want to improve your Karma? Instead of "Post Anonymously", try the "Post Humously" option.
    1. Re:Land speed record? by Konster · · Score: 4, Funny

      Nope. The record for a speed landing is still held by Beagle 2 which currently stands at a Mach 352 High Performance Landing.

    2. Re:Land speed record? by McWilde · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Possibly, but that certainly wasn't a world record.

      --
      Maybe
  4. There's no way.... by PhantomHarlock · · Score: 4, Informative

    There's no way he was looking for a land speed record location near there. It's one of the most mountainous areas in the country. he may have started in the flats of Nevada, but he went over one mountain range and was skimming the peaks of another when he went down.

    I backpacked in and camped about 5 miles north of that spot last year at Thousand Island Lake. He crashed at 10,000 feet up, which is nearing the limits for a small plane with unpressurized cockpit. If you make a wrong move and don't manage your energy right, you're dead, and there's nowhere to land safely. Likely it was too late by the time he realized he was in it too far and wasn't going to get back out.

    The scenery up there is spectacular though, about a mile from his crash site is the Minarets and Minaret Lake, one of many alpine lakes that dot the Sierra range. There are backpacking trails nearby, but not on that particular very steep mountain side.

  5. Re:Emergency transmitter didn't work by PhantomHarlock · · Score: 2, Informative

    He was dead on impact. Wouldn't have helped, except that it might have prevented him from being eaten.

  6. RIP. by apodyopsis · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Sad (but predictable on /.) to see a lot of jokes already, so I'll be first to say commiserations to the family and RIP a pioneer.

    He died doing what he loved and always challenged his boundaries, I can admire that.

    At least the mystery is finally cleared up, the crash investigation can begin.

    1. Re:RIP. by MrNaz · · Score: 5, Funny

      Yea these jokes are in very bad taste. Whenever bones are found it is never a humerus matter.

      --
      I hate printers.
    2. Re:RIP. by nacturation · · Score: 2, Funny

      Sounds like he was flying with a skeleton crew.

      --
      Want to improve your Karma? Instead of "Post Anonymously", try the "Post Humously" option.
    3. Re:RIP. by Carbon016 · · Score: 2, Funny

      No bones about it!

    4. Re:RIP. by minvaren · · Score: 2, Funny

      And yet, these bad jokes are just the tibia iceberg.

      --
      Big! Strong! Wow! Tada-O!
  7. Re:NTSB confirms: Steve Fossett is dead by MrNaz · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Yea but I won't believe it until Netcraft confirms it.

    --
    I hate printers.
  8. most deadly air disaster by Smivs · · Score: 3, Interesting

    The vast majority of plane crashes occur while the planes are flying.

    Whilst the above is true, it's worth noting that the most deadly aviation disaster occured on the ground, at Tenerife's Los Rodeos airport where two 747s collided, killing 683 people.

    --
    Smivs on the intertubes!
    1. Re:most deadly air disaster by umghhh · · Score: 2, Informative

      one of the planes taking part in the collision was already airborne at the crash point.

  9. If by Googling you mean Google Maps... by denzacar · · Score: 2, Interesting

    ... then yes. That is almost exactly what the GP is referring to.
    With some Amazon's mTurk added over the Google layer.

    http://blog.wired.com/defense/2007/09/geeks-spot-foss.html

    http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/373893/internet_users_aid_in_search_for_steve.html

    http://innonate.com/2007/09/09/is-this-steve-fossett-the-community-searches/

    --
    Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
  10. Re:Risky business? Depends. Medical probs? Unlikel by Alpha+Whisky · · Score: 5, Interesting

    All an aviation medical proves is that you were probably alive at the time of the medical. I knew a fellow pilot who died of a heart attack the day after getting his aviation medical renewed!

    --
    it's = it is

    its = belonging to it

  11. Re:Risky business? Depends. Medical probs? Unlikel by Hognoxious · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I know someone whose dad was killed when his instructor flaked out. Turned out the guy had tried several doctors until one said he was OK.

    --
    Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."