63 Year Old Adventurer Steve Fossett’s Plane is Missing in Nevada
The plane carrying 63 year old Steve Fossett is missing. The man who has cheated death 
so many times with attempts to break aviation records in balloons is presently missing in his single engine plane. Searchers are looking in Nevada; however, Steve Fossett did not file a flight plan. It is hard to imagine after all the daring feats that Steve Fossett has attempted that he would be missing in a single engine plane.
The 63-year-old took off alone, with four full tanks of gas, in the small plane Monday morning from an airstrip at hotel magnate Barron Hilton’s Flying M Ranch.
He did not return as scheduled around noon, and a friend reported him missing Monday night, said Ian Gregor, an FAA spokesman.
Thirteen aircraft were doing grid searches over 7,500 square miles and were concentrating on an area of 600 square miles, said Maj. Cynthia S. Ryan of the Civil Air Patrol.
The search area is varied, ranging from high desert terrain with dry lake beds and sage brush, but also some rugged mountain peaks, she said. Gusty winds were hampering the search and could end up suspending the air search effort. (International Herald Tribune)
Adventurer Fossett, man of daring and wealth
Adventurer Steve Fossett goes missing
FAA: No sign since Monday flight scouting land speed record sites in Nevada
The 63-year-old took off alone at 8:45 a.m. Monday from an airstrip at hotel magnate Barron Hilton’s Flying M Ranch, about 70 miles southeast of Reno. A friend reported him missing when he didn’t return, authorities said.
Thirteen aircraft were searching for Fossett in addition to ground crews, said Maj. Cynthia S. Ryan of the Civil Air Patrol. The teams were doing “grid” searches over hundreds of square miles. (MSNBC)
UPDATE I: Search continues for aviation adventurer Steve Fossett
Fossett was flying in a single-engine, Citabria Super Decathlon — a plane capable of aerobatics — with tail number N240R, according to CAP. Fossett, though, had no parachute, which is required for aerobatics.
(Similar to this Citabria Super Decathlon)
There has been no sound detected from the plane’s emergency locator radio beacon, which goes off if there is a hard impact.
The aircraft, with serial number 635-80, was manufactured by Bellanca, and is registered to the Flying M Hunting Club Inc. in Yerington. (CNN)
UPDATE I:Fossett missing but no one believes he’s gone
UPDATE II: Rescuers’ fears grow for missing adventurer Steve Fossett
Fears for the missing adventurer Steve Fossett are growing tonight as rescuers continue to search in vain for his small plane that disappeared over mountainous desert on Monday.
His wife, Peggy, and his friends and relatives, were pinning their hopes on the grit and experience of the record-breaking aviator, the first man to circumnavigate the globe in a balloon.