American famous adventurer Steve Fossett is missing
World is a big place…for most of us. Not for Steve Fossett, a renowned daredevil who managed to brake some of the world’s most incredible records.
Fossett made a fortune in the financial services industry, and he spent a lot funding the record-breaking challenges that were destined to make him an international media star.
He was reported missing on Monday night after taking off from a ranch near Yerington, Nevada in a single-engine aircraft in the morning.
His former crewmate and one-time ballooning rival, Virgin Atlantic President Sir Richard Branson said he was confident his friend would be found safe and well: “Steve is a tough old boot. I suspect he is waiting by his plane right now for someone to pick him up”. This scenario isn’t impossible as there has been no signal from the plane’s emergency locator radio beacon which is designed to be automatically activated in the event of a crash. Officials said 13 aircraft are, at this moment, searching the desert for Fossett’s plane.
Some of Mr. Fossett’s records
- Five world record nonstop circumnavigations of the Earth: as a long-distance solo balloonist, as a sailor, and as a solo airplane pilot
- In 1995 he landed in Canada becoming the first person to make a solo flight across the Pacific Ocean in a balloon
- 2002- First person to fly around the world alone, nonstop, in a balloon
- 2001- He set a new transatlantic record of 4 days 17 hours, shattering the previous record by 43 hours 35 minutes
- 2004- Fossett, as skipper, set the world record for fastest circumnavigation of the world with his maxi-catamaran Chayenne
- 2004- Absolute World Speed Record for airships with an average speed of 62.3 knots (71.5 mph., 115.0 km/h)
- 2005- First solo nonstop airplane flight around the world
- 2006- Absolute world record for “distance without landing”, circumnavigating the Earth and once again over the Atlantic-25,766 statute miles (41,467 km)
- 2006- Absolute Altitude Record for gliders at 50,727 feet (15,460 m)
