U.S. CAP continues search for Steve Fossett

Aviator last seen morning of Sept. 3

September 04, 2007

NEVADA -- A lone pilot, identified as famed aviator Steve Fossett, last seen Sept. 3, remains missing despite early search efforts by the the U.S. Civil Air Patrol, in addition to private resources from the Flying M Ranch near Yerington, Nev.; Naval Air Station Fallon; the Nevada National Guard; and the California Highway Patrol.
According to reports from the Flying M's private airstrip, where the pilot took off Labor Day morning, he was flying a Citabria Super Decathlon single-engine aircraft with the tail number N240R.
Searchers were first notified late Sept. 3 that Fossett had left the private airstrip about 9 a.m. and was planning to return by noon in order to leave the area. A formal search began at 6 p.m. that evening, as six CAP aircraft were launched with highly trained, well-equipped crews of three each in order to do sophisticated "grid" searches of hundreds of square miles of terrain in areas where the pilot may have been. Fossett's Citabria Super Decathlon is described as blue and white with orange stripes and blue sunburst designs on top of the wings. The Decathlon, a well-known aircraft with a long history, is a two-seat tandem "tail dragger" capable of acrobatic maneuvers.