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| publisher = Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum | | publisher = Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum | ||
| location = Washington, DC | | location = Washington, DC | ||
}} </ref> The trip set a number of records for ballooning: Fastest ({{convert|200|mph|km/h|sigfig=2}}, breaking his own previous record of {{convert|166|mph|km/h|sigfig=2}}), Fastest Around the World (13.5 days), Longest Distance Flown Solo in a Balloon ({{convert|20482.26|mi|km}}), and 24-Hour Balloon Distance ({{convert|3186.80|mi|km}} on July 1).<ref name="noaa">{{cite web | |||
| title = NOAA helps guide balloonist around the world | | title = NOAA helps guide balloonist around the world | ||
| publisher = [[NOAA]] | | publisher = [[NOAA]] | ||
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| url =http://www.jacksonsun.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070906/NEWS01/709060304/1002 | | url =http://www.jacksonsun.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070906/NEWS01/709060304/1002 | ||
| accessdate =2007-09-12 | | accessdate =2007-09-12 | ||
}} </ref> As a national BSA volunteer, he served as Chairman of the Northern Tier High Adventure Committee, Chairman of the Venturing Committee, member of the Philmont Ranch Committee, and member of the National Advisory Council. He later became a member of the BSA National Executive Board, and in 2007, Fossett succeeded Secretary of Defense [[Robert Gates]] as president of the [[National Eagle Scout Association]]. Fossett previously had served on the [[World Scout Committee]].<ref name="airportjournal"/> | |||
Fossett was honored with the [[Distinguished Eagle Scout Award]] in 1992. In 1999, he received the [[Silver Buffalo Award]], BSA's highest recognition of service to youth.<ref name=boyscoutsPR/> | Fossett was honored with the [[Distinguished Eagle Scout Award]] in 1992. In 1999, he received the [[Silver Buffalo Award]], BSA's highest recognition of service to youth.<ref name=boyscoutsPR/> | ||
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The [[Scaled Composites White Knight Two]] VMS ''Spirit of Steve Fossett'',<ref>{{cite news | The [[Scaled Composites White Knight Two]] VMS ''Spirit of Steve Fossett'',<ref>{{cite news | ||
|url=http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1670216,00.html |title=My Friend, Steve Fossett |accessdate= 2007-12-20 |publisher=''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' |first=Richard |last=Branson |date=2007-10-10}}</ref> was named in Fossett's honor by his friend [[Richard Branson]], in 2007.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/10/11/the-legend-of-steve-fossett-takes-root/index.html?ex=1349841600&en=45eab0da4e07992c&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss |title=The Legend of Steve Fossett Takes Root |accessdate=2007-12-20 |publisher=New York Times |first=Mike |last=Nizza |date=2007-10-11}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |first=Ari |last=Burack |url=http://www.sanfranciscosentinel.com/?p=5903 |title=Sir Richard Branson... |accessdate=2008-02-28 |publisher=San Francisco Sentinel |date=10 October 2007}}</ref> Following his disappearance, Peggy Fossett and Dick Rutan accepted the Spread Wings Award in Steve Fossett's behalf at the 2007 Spreading Wings Gala, [[Wings Over the Rockies Air and Space Museum]], [[Denver, Colorado]].<ref>[http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5738392,00.html Rocky Mountain News: ''Missing aviator Steve Fossett honored at Wings Over Rockies''] | |url=http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1670216,00.html |title=My Friend, Steve Fossett |accessdate= 2007-12-20 |publisher=''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' |first=Richard |last=Branson |date=2007-10-10}}</ref> was named in Fossett's honor by his friend [[Richard Branson]], in 2007.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/10/11/the-legend-of-steve-fossett-takes-root/index.html?ex=1349841600&en=45eab0da4e07992c&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss |title=The Legend of Steve Fossett Takes Root |accessdate=2007-12-20 |publisher=New York Times |first=Mike |last=Nizza |date=2007-10-11}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |first=Ari |last=Burack |url=http://www.sanfranciscosentinel.com/?p=5903 |title=Sir Richard Branson... |accessdate=2008-02-28 |publisher=San Francisco Sentinel |date=10 October 2007}}</ref> Following his disappearance, Peggy Fossett and Dick Rutan accepted the Spread Wings Award in Steve Fossett's behalf at the 2007 Spreading Wings Gala, [[Wings Over the Rockies Air and Space Museum]], [[Denver, Colorado]].<ref>[http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5738392,00.html Rocky Mountain News: ''Missing aviator Steve Fossett honored at Wings Over Rockies''] by Tillie Fong, November 3, 2007. Retrieved 2008-2-16.</ref> | ||
==Death== | ==Death== | ||
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By September 10, search crews had found eight previously uncharted crash sites,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/09/10/MNF0S2BJT.DTL |title=Search for Fossett turns up wrecks of 8 other small planes |accessdate = 2007-09-10 |author= Friess, Steve |date=2007-09-10 |work= [[San Francisco Chronicle]] |publisher=Hearst Communications Inc. |pages= A–1 |archiveurl= |archivedate= |quote=The search for Fossett across a {{convert|17000|sqmi|km2|adj=on}} swath of the Sierra Nevada has revealed the wreckage of eight other small planes...}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url = http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-09-10-fossett_N.htm | title = Searchers frustrated over Fossett search | accessdate = 2007-09-14 |date = 2007-09-10| agency=Associated Press | work = [[USA Today]]|quote=...search parties have spotted wreckage of eight other airplanes that had been lost for years in and around the rugged mountains of western Nevada.}}</ref> | By September 10, search crews had found eight previously uncharted crash sites,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/09/10/MNF0S2BJT.DTL |title=Search for Fossett turns up wrecks of 8 other small planes |accessdate = 2007-09-10 |author= Friess, Steve |date=2007-09-10 |work= [[San Francisco Chronicle]] |publisher=Hearst Communications Inc. |pages= A–1 |archiveurl= |archivedate= |quote=The search for Fossett across a {{convert|17000|sqmi|km2|adj=on}} swath of the Sierra Nevada has revealed the wreckage of eight other small planes...}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url = http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-09-10-fossett_N.htm | title = Searchers frustrated over Fossett search | accessdate = 2007-09-14 |date = 2007-09-10| agency=Associated Press | work = [[USA Today]]|quote=...search parties have spotted wreckage of eight other airplanes that had been lost for years in and around the rugged mountains of western Nevada.}}</ref> | ||
some of which are decades old,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.montereyherald.com/ci_6836636 |title= Vast, desolate area hinders Fossett search |accessdate = 2007-09-10 |author= Riley, Brendan |date=2007-09-08 |work= Monterey Herald|publisher= |pages= |language= |archiveurl= |archivedate= |quote=...another downed plane Friday that was spotted on a hillside about {{convert|45|mi|km}} southeast of Reno...turned out to be an old crash, a plane last registered in Oregon in 1975}}</ref> | some of which are decades old,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.montereyherald.com/ci_6836636 |title= Vast, desolate area hinders Fossett search |accessdate = 2007-09-10 |author= Riley, Brendan |date=2007-09-08 |work= Monterey Herald|publisher= |pages= |language= |archiveurl= |archivedate= |quote=...another downed plane Friday that was spotted on a hillside about {{convert|45|mi|km}} southeast of Reno...turned out to be an old crash, a plane last registered in Oregon in 1975}}</ref> | ||
but none related to Fossett's disappearance. The urgency of what was still regarded as a rescue mission meant that minimal immediate effort was made to identify the aircraft in the uncharted crash sites,<ref>{{cite news | url = http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/09/10/MNF0S2BJT.DTL | title = Search for Fossett turns up wrecks of 8 other small planes | accessdate = 2009-06-24 |date = September 10, 2007| author=[[Steve Friess]] | work = [[San Francisco Chronicle]]|quote=...Little is known about the eight crashes spotted in the past week, because searchers "put boots on the ground" only long enough to ascertain they were not Fossett's plane, said Civil Air Patrol spokeswoman Maj. Cynthia Ryan.}}</ref> although some had speculated that one could have belonged to [[Charles Clifford Ogle]], missing since 1964.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5h4Tt3Ok0yMNfSsatpddlmScxyEiQ | but none related to Fossett's disappearance. The urgency of what was still regarded as a rescue mission meant that minimal immediate effort was made to identify the aircraft in the uncharted crash sites,<ref>{{cite news | url = http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/09/10/MNF0S2BJT.DTL | title = Search for Fossett turns up wrecks of 8 other small planes | accessdate = 2009-06-24 |date = September 10, 2007| author=[[Steve Friess]] | work = [[San Francisco Chronicle]]|quote=...Little is known about the eight crashes spotted in the past week, because searchers "put boots on the ground" only long enough to ascertain they were not Fossett's plane, said Civil Air Patrol spokeswoman Maj. Cynthia Ryan.}}</ref> although some had speculated that one could have belonged to [[Charles Clifford Ogle]], missing since 1964.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5h4Tt3Ok0yMNfSsatpddlmScxyEiQ |title= Aviator's Fate Puzzles Search Crews |accessdate = 2007-09-08 |author= Gerdner, Tom|date= 2007-09-08|format= |work= |publisher=Associated Press|quote=In their quest to find missing aviator Steve Fossett, searchers have come across eight uncharted plane crash wreckage sites. But none of the wrecks shed light on what may have happened to the multimillionaire.}}</ref> | ||
All told, about two dozen aircraft were involved in the massive search, operating primarily from the primary search base at Minden, Nevada, with a secondary search base located at Bishop, California. CAP searchers came from Wings across the United States, including Nevada, Utah, California, Arizona, New Mexico, Idaho, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Texas.<ref>http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/09/08/fossett.ap/index.html | All told, about two dozen aircraft were involved in the massive search, operating primarily from the primary search base at Minden, Nevada, with a secondary search base located at Bishop, California. CAP searchers came from Wings across the United States, including Nevada, Utah, California, Arizona, New Mexico, Idaho, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Texas.<ref>http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/09/08/fossett.ap/index.html </ref> | ||
On September 7, [[Google Inc.]] helped the search for the aviator through its connections to contractors that provide [[satellite imaging|satellite imagery]] for its [[Google Earth]] software. [[Richard Branson]], a British billionaire and friend of Fossett, said he and others were coordinating efforts with Google to see if any of the high-resolution images might include Fossett's aircraft. | On September 7, [[Google Inc.]] helped the search for the aviator through its connections to contractors that provide [[satellite imaging|satellite imagery]] for its [[Google Earth]] software. [[Richard Branson]], a British billionaire and friend of Fossett, said he and others were coordinating efforts with Google to see if any of the high-resolution images might include Fossett's aircraft. | ||
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On September 8, the first of a series of new high-resolution imagery from [[DigitalGlobe]] was made available via the [[Amazon Mechanical Turk]] beta website so that users could flag potential areas of interest for searching, in what is known as [[crowdsourcing]]. By September 11, up to 50,000 people had joined the effort, scrutinizing more than 300,000 278-foot-square squares of the imagery. Peter Cohen of Amazon believed that by September 11, the entire search area had been covered at least once. Amazon's search effort was shut down the week of October 29, without any measurable success.<ref name="wired 11 sept">[http://www.wired.com/software/webservices/news/2007/09/distributed_search 50,000 Volunteers Join Distributed Search For Steve Fossett], [[Wired News]], By Steve Friess, September 11, 2007, 2:00 p.m.</ref><ref name="Wired Nov6">[http://www.wired.com/techbiz/it/news/2007/11/fossett_search Online Fossett Searchers Ask, Was It Worth It?], Wired.com, Steve Friess, 11/6/2007 5:00 PM</ref> Major Cynthia Ryan later said it had been more of a hindrance than a help. She said that persons purporting to have seen the aircraft on the Mechanical Turk or have special knowledge clogged her email during critical days of the search, and for even months afterward. Many of the ostensible sightings proved to be images of CAP aircraft flying search grids, or simply mistaken artifacts of old images. Psychics flooded the search base in Minden with predictions of where the aviator could be found. Ryan got the majority of these calls personally, often at her home, in the middle of the night. One man from Canada was particularly persistent with daily calls to Ryan, interfering with her press briefings. Ryan asked her Incident Commander to issue a cease and desist order, backed up by the [[Royal Canadian Mounted Police]] (RCMP) if necessary. Ryan noted that every message, letter, or phone call was taken seriously — which swamped the USAF specialists assigned the task of reviewing every one of them without regard to apparent plausibility. In retrospect, the crowdsource effort was "not ready for prime time," according to Major Ryan. | On September 8, the first of a series of new high-resolution imagery from [[DigitalGlobe]] was made available via the [[Amazon Mechanical Turk]] beta website so that users could flag potential areas of interest for searching, in what is known as [[crowdsourcing]]. By September 11, up to 50,000 people had joined the effort, scrutinizing more than 300,000 278-foot-square squares of the imagery. Peter Cohen of Amazon believed that by September 11, the entire search area had been covered at least once. Amazon's search effort was shut down the week of October 29, without any measurable success.<ref name="wired 11 sept">[http://www.wired.com/software/webservices/news/2007/09/distributed_search 50,000 Volunteers Join Distributed Search For Steve Fossett], [[Wired News]], By Steve Friess, September 11, 2007, 2:00 p.m.</ref><ref name="Wired Nov6">[http://www.wired.com/techbiz/it/news/2007/11/fossett_search Online Fossett Searchers Ask, Was It Worth It?], Wired.com, Steve Friess, 11/6/2007 5:00 PM</ref> Major Cynthia Ryan later said it had been more of a hindrance than a help. She said that persons purporting to have seen the aircraft on the Mechanical Turk or have special knowledge clogged her email during critical days of the search, and for even months afterward. Many of the ostensible sightings proved to be images of CAP aircraft flying search grids, or simply mistaken artifacts of old images. Psychics flooded the search base in Minden with predictions of where the aviator could be found. Ryan got the majority of these calls personally, often at her home, in the middle of the night. One man from Canada was particularly persistent with daily calls to Ryan, interfering with her press briefings. Ryan asked her Incident Commander to issue a cease and desist order, backed up by the [[Royal Canadian Mounted Police]] (RCMP) if necessary. Ryan noted that every message, letter, or phone call was taken seriously — which swamped the USAF specialists assigned the task of reviewing every one of them without regard to apparent plausibility. In retrospect, the crowdsource effort was "not ready for prime time," according to Major Ryan. | ||
On September 12, survival experts speculated that Fossett was likely to be dead.<ref>http://edition.cnn.com/2007/US/09/12/fossett.search.ap/index.html | On September 12, survival experts speculated that Fossett was likely to be dead.<ref>http://edition.cnn.com/2007/US/09/12/fossett.search.ap/index.html </ref><ref>"Steve Fossett likely dead, survival experts say", http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20732023/</ref> | ||
On September 17, the Nevada Wing of the Civil Air Patrol said it was suspending all flights in connection with its search operations,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.check-six.com/lib/Famous_Missing/Fossett.htm |title=Missing - Steve Fossett |publisher=Check-Six.com |date= |accessdate=2010-07-18}}</ref> but National Guard search flights, private search flights and ground searches continued.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/09/18/fossett.search.ap/index.html | work=CNN | On September 17, the Nevada Wing of the Civil Air Patrol said it was suspending all flights in connection with its search operations,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.check-six.com/lib/Famous_Missing/Fossett.htm |title=Missing - Steve Fossett |publisher=Check-Six.com |date= |accessdate=2010-07-18}}</ref> but National Guard search flights, private search flights and ground searches continued.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/09/18/fossett.search.ap/index.html | work=CNN}} </ref> | ||
The [[National Transportation Safety Board]] (NTSB) began a preliminary investigation into the likely crash of the plane that Fossett was flying.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief.asp?ev_id=20070917X01399&key=1 |title=NTSB Preliminary Report - SEA07FAMS2 - on the loss of N240R |publisher=Ntsb.gov |date= |accessdate=2010-07-18 | The [[National Transportation Safety Board]] (NTSB) began a preliminary investigation into the likely crash of the plane that Fossett was flying.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief.asp?ev_id=20070917X01399&key=1 |title=NTSB Preliminary Report - SEA07FAMS2 - on the loss of N240R |publisher=Ntsb.gov |date= |accessdate=2010-07-18}} </ref> The preliminary report originally stated that Fossett was "presumed fatally injured and the aircraft substantially damaged", but was subsequently revised to remove that assumption.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.kolotv.com/home/headlines/9904426.html | title = Federal Agency Retracts Fossett Statement After KOLO 8 Probe | accessdate = 2007-09-21 | author= Howard, Scott and Stewart Campbell | date = 2007-09-20 | work = [[KOLO-TV]] News| quote=...the National Transportation Safety Board's officials preliminary report noted that Fossett was "presumed fatally injured and the aircraft substantially damaged."}}</ref> Fossett's friend and fellow explorer, Sir Richard Branson, made similar public statements.<ref>http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071015/ap_on_re_us/steve_fossett </ref> | ||
On September 19, 2007, authorities confirmed they would stop actively looking for Fossett in the Nevada Desert, but would keep air crews on standby to fly to possible crash sites. "Nobody is giving up on this man", said department spokesman. "The search is going to continue. It's just going to be scaled back", he said.<ref>[http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30200-1284904,00.html Search For Missing Adventurer Wound Down |Sky News|World News<!-- Bot generated title -->] | On September 19, 2007, authorities confirmed they would stop actively looking for Fossett in the Nevada Desert, but would keep air crews on standby to fly to possible crash sites. "Nobody is giving up on this man", said department spokesman. "The search is going to continue. It's just going to be scaled back", he said.<ref>[http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30200-1284904,00.html Search For Missing Adventurer Wound Down |Sky News|World News<!-- Bot generated title -->] </ref> On September 30, however, it was announced that after further analysis of radar data from the day of his disappearance, ground teams and two aircraft had resumed the search.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,298646,00.html |title=Search for Missing Aviator Steve Fossett Ramped Up After New Air Force Analysis - Local News | News Articles | National News | US News |publisher=FOXNews.com |date=2007-09-30 |accessdate=2010-07-18}}</ref> | ||
On October 2, 2007, the Civil Air Patrol announced it had called off its search operation<ref>{{cite news | url = http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/10/02/missing.millionaire/index.html | title = Search called off for adventurous aviator Steve Fossett | accessdate = 2007-10-03 | author= CNN | date = 2007-10-03 | work = [[CNN]] News| quote=The Civil Air Patrol has called off the search for multimillionaire adventurer Steve Fossett, nearly a month after he took off from a Nevada ranch, the agency announced Tuesday.}}</ref> | On October 2, 2007, the Civil Air Patrol announced it had called off its search operation<ref>{{cite news | url = http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/10/02/missing.millionaire/index.html | title = Search called off for adventurous aviator Steve Fossett | accessdate = 2007-10-03 | author= CNN | date = 2007-10-03 | work = [[CNN]] News| quote=The Civil Air Patrol has called off the search for multimillionaire adventurer Steve Fossett, nearly a month after he took off from a Nevada ranch, the agency announced Tuesday.}}</ref> | ||
Maj. Ryan later noted that the search was the largest, most complex peacetime search for an individual in U.S. history. | Maj. Ryan later noted that the search was the largest, most complex peacetime search for an individual in U.S. history. | ||
On August 23, 2008, almost a year after Fossett went missing, twenty-eight friends and admirers conducted a foot search based on new clues gathered by the team. That search concluded on September 10.<ref>{{cite news | title = New search starts for Steve Fossett | work = Reno Gazette Journal | date =2008-08-31 | url =http://news.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080831/NEWS18/80831007 | accessdate =2008-09-12 | On August 23, 2008, almost a year after Fossett went missing, twenty-eight friends and admirers conducted a foot search based on new clues gathered by the team. That search concluded on September 10.<ref>{{cite news | title = New search starts for Steve Fossett | work = Reno Gazette Journal | date =2008-08-31 | url =http://news.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080831/NEWS18/80831007 | accessdate =2008-09-12}} </ref><ref>{{cite web | ||
| url = http://www.ksdk.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=154490 | | url = http://www.ksdk.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=154490 | ||
| title = Another Fossett search winding up in Nevada | | title = Another Fossett search winding up in Nevada | ||
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===NTSB report and findings=== | ===NTSB report and findings=== | ||
On March 5, 2009, the NTSB issued its report and findings.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief2.asp?ev_id=20081007X17184&ntsbno=SEA07FA277&akey=1 |title=National Transportation Safety Board Report |publisher=Ntsb.gov|id=SEA07FA277 |date= |accessdate=2010-07-18|postscript=<!-- Bot inserted parameter. Either remove it; or change its value to "." for the cite to end in a ".", as necessary. -->{{inconsistent citations}} | On March 5, 2009, the NTSB issued its report and findings.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief2.asp?ev_id=20081007X17184&ntsbno=SEA07FA277&akey=1 |title=National Transportation Safety Board Report |publisher=Ntsb.gov|id=SEA07FA277 |date= |accessdate=2010-07-18|postscript=<!-- Bot inserted parameter. Either remove it; or change its value to "." for the cite to end in a ".", as necessary. -->{{inconsistent citations}}}} </ref><ref>{{Cite document|title="Factual Report - Aviation" |url=http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/GenPDF.asp?id=SEA07FA277&rpt=fa|publisher=National Transportation Safety Board |id=SEA07FA277|date=2009-07-09|accessdate=2010-07-09|postscript=<!-- Bot inserted parameter. Either remove it; or change its value to "." for the cite to end in a ".", as necessary. -->{{inconsistent citations}}}} </ref> It states that the plane crashed at an elevation of about 10,000 feet, {{convert|300|ft|m}} below the crest of the ridge. The elevation of peaks in the area exceeded {{convert|13000|ft|m}}. However, the [[density altitude]] in the area at the time and place of the crash was estimated to be {{convert|12700|ft|m}}. The aircraft, a tandem two-seater, was nearly 30 years old, and Fossett had flown approximately 40 hours in this type. The plane's operating manual says that at an altitude of {{convert|13000|ft|m}} the [[rate of climb]] would be 300 feet per minute. The NTSB report says that "a meteorologist from [[Salinas, California|Salinas]] provided a numerical simulation of the conditions in the accident area using the WRF-ARW (Advanced Research Weather Research and Forecasting) numerical model. At 0930 [the approximate time of the crash] the model displayed downdrafts in that area of approximately 300 feet per minute." There was no evidence of equipment failure. The report stated that a postmortem examination of the skeletal fragments had been performed under the auspices of the Madera County Sheriff's Department. The cause of death was determined to be multiple traumatic injuries. | ||
On July 9, 2009, the NTSB declared the probable cause of the crash as "the pilot’s inadvertent encounter with downdrafts that exceeded the climb capability of the airplane. Contributing to the accident were the downdrafts, high [[density altitude]], and mountainous terrain."<ref>{{Cite web|author=National Transportation Safety Board|url=http://www.ntsb.gov/aviationquery/brief.aspx?ev_id=20081007X17184&key=1|title=Probable Cause Report: Accident occurred Monday, September 03, 2007 in Mammoth Lakes, CA|id=SEA07FA277|date=2009-07-09|accessdate=2012-04-18|postscript=<!-- Bot inserted parameter. Either remove it; or change its value to "." for the cite to end in a ".", as necessary. -->{{inconsistent citations}}}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/07/09/fossett.crash.cause/index.html |title=Investigators: Strong winds probable cause of Fossett crash |publisher=CNN.com |date= 2009-07-09|accessdate=2010-04-24}}</ref> | On July 9, 2009, the NTSB declared the probable cause of the crash as "the pilot’s inadvertent encounter with downdrafts that exceeded the climb capability of the airplane. Contributing to the accident were the downdrafts, high [[density altitude]], and mountainous terrain."<ref>{{Cite web|author=National Transportation Safety Board|url=http://www.ntsb.gov/aviationquery/brief.aspx?ev_id=20081007X17184&key=1|title=Probable Cause Report: Accident occurred Monday, September 03, 2007 in Mammoth Lakes, CA|id=SEA07FA277|date=2009-07-09|accessdate=2012-04-18|postscript=<!-- Bot inserted parameter. Either remove it; or change its value to "." for the cite to end in a ".", as necessary. -->{{inconsistent citations}}}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/07/09/fossett.crash.cause/index.html |title=Investigators: Strong winds probable cause of Fossett crash |publisher=CNN.com |date= 2009-07-09|accessdate=2010-04-24}}</ref> | ||
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* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7648259.stm In pictures: Steve Fossett] | * [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7648259.stm In pictures: Steve Fossett] | ||
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/2078591.stm BBC, Profile: Steve Fossett] | * [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/2078591.stm BBC, Profile: Steve Fossett] | ||
* {{cite web|title=FAI Awards received by Steve FOSSETT (USA)|publisher=Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI)|url=http://www.fai.org/awards/recipient.asp?id=2008|accessdate=2007-10-31 | * {{cite web|title=FAI Awards received by Steve FOSSETT (USA)|publisher=Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI)|url=http://www.fai.org/awards/recipient.asp?id=2008|accessdate=2007-10-31}} | ||
* {{cite web|title=List of records established by 'Steve FOSSETT (USA)'|publisher=Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI)|url=http://records.fai.org/data?p=1372|accessdate=2007-10-31}} | * {{cite web|title=List of records established by 'Steve FOSSETT (USA)'|publisher=Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI)|url=http://records.fai.org/data?p=1372|accessdate=2007-10-31}} | ||
* [http://www.economist.com/obituary/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10717765 Obituary from The Economist, February 21, 2008] | * [http://www.economist.com/obituary/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10717765 Obituary from The Economist, February 21, 2008] | ||
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Fossett, Steve}} | {{DEFAULTSORT:Fossett, Steve}} | ||
[[Category:24 Hours of Le Mans drivers]] | [[Category:24 Hours of Le Mans drivers]] | ||
[[Category:American aviators]] | [[Category:American aviators]] | ||
[[Category:American balloonists]] | [[Category:American balloonists]] | ||
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[[Category:World Scout Committee members]] | [[Category:World Scout Committee members]] | ||
[[fr:Steve Fossett]] | [[fr:Steve Fossett]] | ||
[[it:Steve Fossett]] | [[it:Steve Fossett]] | ||