Aviator and sailing adventurer Steve Fossett was reported missing on September 3, 2007 after failing to return to an airstrip at a southern Nevada ranch while piloting a light aircraft. Now an online effort is underway, aided by Sailnet, to get sailors with access to a computer to search satellite imagery to help identify Fossett’s downed aircraft.
According to reports Fossett, flying solo, was scouting dry lake beds in the Nevada desert for use as a test site for his Spirit of America Sonic Arrow land racer. He was planning to target 800 mph with the vehicle and break the land speed record at the Bonneville salt flats.
In 2004 Fossett set a Round the World Record of 58 days 9 hours aboard the cat Cheyenne. In 2001 Fossett set a TransAtlantic record of 4 days 17 hours. While both of these records have been broken, they were dramatic improvements over the previous records. Between 1993 and 2004 Fossett set 23 official world records in sailing (including 2 single-handed records), 11 of which still stand.
