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Last Word on Steve Fossett
July 09, 2009 6:21 PM
Nearly two years after he died, the National Transportation Safety Board is out with its final report on what happened to Steve Fossett's plane in the California mountains.
Fossett, you'll recall, was the famed round-the-world adventurer who circled the globe solo and nonstop by plane and balloon. He disappeared on a routine flight from a friend's ranch in Nevada; the California scrub where he crashed is so rugged that the wreckage of his plane was not found for a year.
The NTSB's summary is HERE, but these are the key lines:
"The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident as follows:
"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."
The summary explains why the wreck was so hard to find: "A postimpact fire consumed the fuselage, with the exception of its steel frame. The wings were fragmented into numerous pieces. The ELT [emergency locator transmitter] was destroyed. Damage signatures on the propeller blades and the engine crankshaft indicated that the engine was operating at impact. Examination of the airframe and engine revealed no evidence of any malfunctions or failures that would have prevented normal operation."
In the end, Fossett, who had circled the world many times and broken many records, was killed by the mountain winds.
July 9, 2009 in Adventure, Current Affairs | Permalink | Share | User Comments (6)
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All of us that fly that route between Reno and Las Vegas in light aircraft knew exactly what happened to him. Many was the time I flew in the area East of Bishop, CA (where they found the wreckage) and wondered if he was down in one of those many gullies. Turns out that he was. Mountain flying can kill you in a NY second.
Posted by: quickphil1943 | Jul 9, 2009 7:21:35 PM
That is true quickphil...I haven't done much flying in the Rockies, but even in the Ozarks you can get in trouble on the lee side of ridge on gusty days. I've had a couple of instances where I was at best rate of climb, full power, and descending at 200 fpm. Altitude is life in situations like that.
Posted by: propwash | Jul 9, 2009 9:21:02 PM
I've only flown in those mountainous western areas in commercial airliners, but the turbulence and downdrafts there have always been some of the most powerful I've ever experienced even in a huge airplane, and I've flown all over the world. I can easily see how it would have led to Mr. Fosset's accident.
Posted by: Kellybelle22 | Jul 9, 2009 9:53:45 PM
Where's the meteorological evidence for such a conclusion??? where's the constant pressure charts???
I know its bumpy sometimes there...gliders routinely fly there and they have NO propulsion...
Need a lot more detail here to find out what really to him.
Posted by: steve | Jul 10, 2009 1:51:35 AM
Kellybelle22 - The throttle setting was at full power, prop at full RPM. With those settings, absent the mountain air, you go up, not down. The time of day of the flight gave it away. Gliders light aircraft fly early and late in the day when wind and gusts are not as violent.
Posted by: quickphil1943 | Jul 10, 2009 3:18:33 AM
Hey Kellybelle22
Ck out the NTSB summary link and read the report and click on the FullNarrative link at the bottom of the page, I think it should help with your questions.
Posted by: Joe | Jul 29, 2009 6:53:23 PM
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