Three Weeks and Still No Sign of Steve Fossett
The search for adventurer and aviator Steve Fossett enters its third week.
Sept. 16, 2007 — -- The search for adventurer and aviator Steve Fossett is entering its third week and authorities still have found no sign of him, after scouring the Nevada-California border.
The vast and difficult terrain has made the search effort extremely complex.
"We have peaks and valleys ranging from 5,000 feet valley all the way up to 12,000 feet peak, right next to each other. That vertical climb is extremely hazardous," said Major Ed Locke of the Nevada National Guard.
So far, a small air force searching for Fossett has covered more than 20,000 square miles and it has found more than a half dozen other crash sites.
Yet, no sign of Fossett or his plane has been found.
The search for Fossett has been more than just physically taxing -- it's been an enormous financial effort as well.
Locke said the state has spent more than half a million dollars on the search, and stressed that the efforts were not tied to Fossett's celebrity. "We would be doing this for anyone," he said.
Even private citizens have gotten into the search by looking at satellite photos online. They hope to spot any signs of Fossett, who took off in his single-engine plane on Sept. 3 from an airstrip south of Reno, Nev.
Rescuers were forced to briefly halt the search for Fossett on Saturday, citing risks that volunteer pilots could run into rescue teams searching for Fossett, according to Reuters.
The Federal Aviation Administration barred civilian aircraft from flying lower than 2,000 feet above ground level in a 50-mile area around the Flying M Ranch, southeast of Reno, according to Reuters.
And while with each passing day the likelihood of finding Fossett alive decreases, authorities have not given up hope.
"The bottom line is we are going to search for Mr. Fossett until all leads have been exhausted," Locke said.
Because Fossett filed no flight itinerary, the search has been particularly difficult.
"Steve was going out and scouting places to do a high-speed car run to try to break the ground speed record," said ABC News aviation consultant John Nance. "It wasn't the sort of flight that would lend itself very well to filing a flight plan," he said.
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