US:RESCUERS CONFIRMED yesterday that the wreckage of a small plane spotted on a remote mountainside in northern California was that of the adventurer Steve Fossett, missing for more than a year.
Mr Fossett's body has not been found, but the nature of the crash site suggests that he could not have survived the impact.
The confirmation comes three days after a hiker discovered items belonging to Fossett in a remote part of the 3,000sq mile Inyo National Forest in the Sierra Nevada, near the tourist area of Mammoth Lakes.
An aerial search was launched and the wreckage of a small plane was spotted at 3,000m, with rescuers reaching the rugged mountainside site yesterday.
"It was a head-on crash into the side of a mountain, into a rock," Madera county sheriff John Anderson told a news conference. "The plane disintegrated. We found the engine 300ft from the fuselage. The crash looked so severe I doubt if someone would have walked away from it," Sheriff Anderson said.
"There was no body in the plane. We have not found any human remains at the crash site." Sheriff Anderson added that it was not unusual to find no human remains. "It's quite often if you don't find remains within a few days, because of animals you'll find nothing at all."
The items found by hiker Preston Morrow, who said he was "way, way off" established trails, included $1,000 in $100 bills, Mr Fossett's pilot's licence, a membership card in his name for the Soaring Society of America and a fleece. Mr Morrow, a local sports shop owner, said his initial reaction was: "Wow, $100 bills."
Mr Fossett, a wealthy financial broker turned adventurer, went missing in September last year when he took off in a single engine Bellanca Citabria Super Decathlon, an aerobatics plane.
His disappearance led to the largest air and ground search in US history, combing an area of 17,000sq miles. Three private rescue efforts were launched.
Mr Fossett took off in the blue-and-white plane from the Flying M ranch owned by hotel magnate Barron Hilton. The plane was one of several kept at the ranch for the use of guests.
While the initial rescue efforts focused on an area close to Yerington, Nevada, where Mr Fossett started his journey, the wreckage was found 120 miles away. The adventurer, who had no flight plan, left with the words "I head for the south". He was as good as his word: the Mammoth Lakes area is directly south of Yerington.
Mr Fossett, who was 63, was thought to have been searching for a dry lake for an attempt on the land speed record. He was an experienced survivalist who was the first person to encircle the globe in a balloon.
Mr Morrow spotted the bills under pine needles early on Tuesday. He returned later with his wife and friends and they found the other items, including Mr Fossett's green Federal Aviation Administration identification.
Mr Morrow initially tried to contact the Fossett family, without success. He contacted authorities two days later when he realised that Mr Fossett was the name of the missing adventurer.
Mr Fossett's wife Peggy issued a statement on Wednesday saying that she was hopeful that the crash site would be found.
Previously, there were reports of Mr Fossett's plane in the Mammoth Lakes area, but rescuers had been unable to locate any remains.
Rescuers were fortunate to find the wreckage. The first snows are expected this weekend, which may have buried the wreckage and made the area inaccessible.
"It's very hard to see by air; there [are] so many crevices, so many rocks, so many crazy shapes that unless you're looking literally a few feet from it, it would be very hard to see," said Rusty Aimer, chief executive of Aviation Experts. "Everybody was saying that some day some hiker would run into the wreckage, and here it is, that's almost exactly what's happened." - ( Guardianservice)