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Friday, 07 November 2008 |
By Catherine Billey
Mammoth Times Staff Writer
 The crash site of Stephen Fossett’s plane, found Oct. 2, 2008. The adventurer’s remains were found about a half-mile from this site.photo courtesy madera county sheriff’s department
Two bone fragments recovered during the most recent search of the airplane wreckage site east of the Minarets near Mammoth Lakes – days before a winter storm obliterated the area with snow – were conclusively identified by a California Department of Justice Forensics laboratory, according to Madera County Sheriff John Anderson on Nov. 3.
Fossett failed to return from his last flight from Barron Hilton’s Flying-M Ranch near Yerington, Nev., in a Bellanca Super Decathlon (a fixed wing single engine stunt plane) on Sept. 3, 2007. Though he was declared dead in February of 2008, his disappearance stirred up lingering theories that he might have survived the Sierra Nevada crash.
Now, however, there should be no doubt that he was killed on impact in the crash, as indicated by Mark Rosenker, Acting Chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) at an Oct. 2 press conference in Mammoth Lakes. Rosenker said the wreckage indicated “a high impact crash which appears to be consistent with a non-survivable accident.”
The scattering of bones and personal possessions over the large debris field suggests that Fossett’s body was dragged away from the crash site by an animal, likely a mountain lion.
At an Oct. 29 press conference, Anderson expressed gratitude for the three Madera County sheriff’s deputies, Lt. Darin McMechan, Detective Jack Williamson, and Deputy Bennie Romiti, who had hiked into the rugged, remote crash site east of the Minarets that day, along with five members of the Mono County Search and Rescue team: Heidi Vetter, Brad Schilz, Carole Schilz, Jutta Schmidt-Gengenbach, and Jeff Holmquist.
From a Devils Postpile trailhead near Soda Springs at 7:15 a.m., the team trekked almost five miles to the north through extremely rugged, steep and rocky terrain, reaching the search area in roughly three hours.
Within a matter of minutes, one of the SAR team members spotted the first (and most significant) of what would be several items recovered in the next five hours. They included credit cards, an Illinois Driver’s license, cash, clothing, and a pair of tennis shoes.
Whereas the few remains found during the initial early October searches did not receive any special treatment for analysis at the forensics laboratory, Anderson said he requested the recent fragments be expedited due to unceasing media interest.
At a press conference the following day, Oct. 30, Anderson declined to describe the bones found during the search out of respect and sensitivity to Fossett’s surviving family members. For them, it has been 14 months of grieving
Now, at least, some closure has been reached. The NTSB is piecing together the plane wreckage and, according to spokesperson Terry Williams, “This is an ongoing investigation and it will be about nine months to a year before the Board reaches a probable cause” of the crash. |
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Last Updated ( Friday, 14 November 2008 )
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