Fossett’s Plane Found

Nearly 11 months to the day since adventurer Steve Fossett disappeared, the remains of the single engine plane he was flying at the time have been found in the Eastern Sierra’s Minaret Range near Mammoth Lakes. Remains of the Bellanca Super Decathlon were located three days after a local day-hiker found Fossett’s pilot’s license, a glider license and a membership card for the National Aeronautic Association. The area where the plane was located was flown over 19 times by the California Highway Patrol in last year’s search.

To sailors, Fossett was probably best known for his Morelli and Melvin-designed, 125-ft Cheyenne, which held the Jules Verne ’round-the-world record at 58 days and 9 hours, and the West-East Transatlantic Record of 4 days and 17 hours until 2007. In the roughly twelve years Fossett spent chasing sailing records, he racked up an impressive list of records that included nearly every major passage record around the world. Indicative of his aptitude for the sport, Fossett’s first-ever solo offshore race was the stormy 1994 Route du Rhum, where despite having way less than a year of large multihull sailing under his belt, he finished fifth in his ORMA 60 Lakota, just behind some of the most storied names in French shorthanded offshore sailing. To see a comprehensive list of Fossett’s achievements whether terrestrial, nautical or aeronautical, visit www.stevefossett.com.