So now, after a long period of silence and speculation, we can say we have a pretty good idea of what happened to Steve Fossett.According to investigators who examined the wreckage discovered earlier this week, it appears the adventurer flew horizontally right into a mountainside at high speed. At least we know the "where" and "when." Now the questions are "why?" and "how?"
Searchers also found some bone fragments at the site and have sent them to a laboratory for analysis.
The wreckage was found in the Sierra Nevadas on Wednesday. It was located at an elevation of about 10,000 feet (3,000 metres) near a place called Mammoth Lakes. Investigators have also collected and removed as much of the wreckage as they could before bad weather covered the crash site (snow was expected).
Fossett had been missing since September of last year and was declared dead by a judge earlier this year. According to CNN.com, he was apparently scouting locations for an attempt to break the land speed record in a jet-propelled car.
Back in February, we noted here in Zanepost that throughout Fossett's many adventures he was known for doing one thing quite well, and that was managing risks. So his disappearance was - and still is - perplexing.
Investigators will now piece together the wreckage to try to understand what happened.
I still find it strange that the man who set so many aviation and sailing records would make a navigational mistake and fly directly into the side of a mountain. Was it a mechanical malfunction that caused the crash? Bad weather? Some other factor? Hopefully, some answers will emerge as the investigation proceeds.
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Photo courtesy of Mary Frances Howard, Wikimedia Commons public domain
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