Steve Fossett Missing in Nevada with his Aircraft

Related blog entries

• Steve Fosset declared dead on November 26, 2007
• Steve Fossett's airplane found October 2, 2007

James Stephen Fossett (April 22, 1944 – missing September 3, 2007, declared legally dead February 15, 2008) was an American aviator, sailor, and adventurer who became the first person to fly solo nonstop around the world in a balloon. He made his fortune in the financial services industry and was best known for many world records, including five nonstop circumnavigations of the Earth: as a long-distance solo balloonist, as a sailor, and as a solo flight fixed-wing aircraft pilot.

Death of Steve Fossett
On November 26, 2007, Fossett's wife requested that Fossett be declared legally dead.The petition was granted on February 15, 2008. Steve Fossett was 63 years old at the age of his death.

At 8:45 am, on Monday, September 3, 2007, Fossett took off in a single-engine plane from a private airstrip known as Flying M Ranch ( 38°36?13?N, 119°00?11?W), near Smith Valley, 30 miles south of Yerington, Nevada, near Carson City and the California border. The airfield is owned by Barron Hilton and is the site of the biennial Barron Hilton Cup invitational soaring encampment. Fossett was searching for a suitable lake bed for a world land speed record attempt.

According to CNN News, the search for Fossett began about six hours later. He was flying in a Bellanca Super Decathlon with tail number N240R registered to the "Flying M Hunting Club, Inc". There has been no signal from the plane's emergency locator radio beacon, which is designed to be automatically activated in the event of a crash.

Fossett took off with enough fuel for four to five hours of flight, according to Civil Air Patrol Maj. Cynthia S. Ryan. A Federal Aviation Administration spokesperson noted that Fossett apparently did not file a flight plan. On Tuesday night, teams of 10 aircraft search but found no trace of any wreckage after scouring a large chunk of rugged terrain