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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."

18 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 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."
    3. 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.

    4. 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.

    5. 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.
    6. Re:Sad news. by RuBLed · · Score: 3, Interesting

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

    7. 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."
    8. 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.

  3. 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.

  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. 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.
  6. 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!
  7. Re:Land speed record? by McWilde · · Score: 4, Insightful

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

    --
    Maybe
  8. 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

  9. 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."