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Steve Fossett Fossett stands next to GlobalFlyer in 2006 Born James Stephen Fossett April 22, 1944(1944-04-22) Jackson, Tennessee Died c. September 3, 2007 (aged 63) Sierra Nevada Mountains, California Cause of death Plane crash Nationality American Known for Aviation, sailing and adventuring James Stephen Fossett (April 22, 1944 – c. September 3, 2007) was an American businessman, aviator, sailor, and adventurer and the first person to fly solo nonstop around the world in a balloon. He made his fortune in the financial services industry, and was best known for many world records, including five nonstop circumnavigations of the Earth: as a long-distance solo balloonist, as a sailor, and as a solo flight fixed-wing aircraft pilot. A fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and the Explorers Club, Fossett set 116 records in five different sports, 60 of which still stand, as of June 2007[update].[1] On September 3, 2007, Fossett was reported missing after the plane he was flying over the Nevada desert failed to return.[2] Despite a month of searches by the Civil Air Patrol (CAP) and others, Fossett could not be found, and the search by CAP was called off on October 2, 2007. Privately funded and privately directed search efforts continued, but after a request from Fossett's wife, he was declared legally dead on February 15, 2008. On September 29, 2008, a hiker found Fossett's identification cards in the Sierra Nevada Mountains in California, and the crash site was discovered a few days later. On November 3, 2008, DNA test results conducted on bones recovered near the site of the crash confirmed his death, which some have indicated would have happened immediately upon impact of the plane. According to interviews by the Discovery Channel (who provided a camera crew the day after his FAA ID and $1005 were found by a hiker) the one fact that disputes the official findings was the location of hardware that had been part of the pilot's harness. The pilots who knew him and that the Discovery Channel interviewed for the special about him (aired January 15, 2009, near 8:30 AM GMT), expressed certainty that the harness could not have been released by any animal that may have moved his body. The reason for their opinion pertains to the mechanism (unscrewing) required to release the harness, and the fact that no other hardware was attached. Contents [hide] 1 Early years 2 Business career 3 Personal life 4 Records 4.1 Overview 4.2 Balloon pilot 4.3 Sailor 4.4 Airship pilot 4.5 Fixed-wing aircraft pilot 4.5.1 GlobalFlyer 4.5.2 Transcontinental aircraft records 4.5.3 First trans-Atlantic flight re-enactment 4.5.4 Glider records 4.6 Cross-country skiing 4.7 Mountain climbing 4.8 Other accomplishments 4.9 Previous attempts at records 5 Scouting 6 Awards and honors 7 Death 7.1 Disappearance and search 7.2 Search and rescue costs 7.3 Recovery of wreckage and remains 8 References 9 Further reading 10 External links // Early years Fossett was
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