Steve Fossett's missing
plane search and old Nevada airplane crash sites
First, I have to
start this off by saying how saddened I am by this whole event
as I have always admired Steve Fossett for his determination
and achievements. My thoughts and sympathy go out to Steve Fossett's friends and family. As I write this, we enter the
11th day of the search and I am on the side of the fence that
believes it is now a recovery rather than a rescue mission. I hope I am
wrong.
This article is not
about what could have happened to Fossett or why he has not been
found, but rather it is intended to comment on some inaccuracies being
reported in the media. It may be over- dramatization, or perhaps
just subtle nuances in wording, but I have received numerous
calls and e-mails from people asking questions about all of
"these missing planes that are being discovered in NV."
To quote two news
releases:
"But over the
last 50 years, aviation officials estimate, more than 150
small planes have disappeared in Nevada"
CNN.com September 9, 2007
"There are 129 known crash sites in Nevada, but officials
estimate that over the last 50 years more than 300 small planes
have disappeared in the state."The
Guardian September 11, 2007
The common theme is
that everyone thinks that these planes are long lost planes that
have "disappeared" and never been found
before.
No, not likely. More likely, these planes are simply old crashes
that have been "forgotten" over time. Commenting on one of the
old crash sites that was found, Nevada Civil Air Patrol Major
Cynthia Ryan correctly told reporters, "Unfortunately, it
turned out to be one of many dozen unmapped wreck sites from
previous years." (Msnbc.com “Day Four of
Search For Steve Fossett”).
By "unmapped",
she is talking about what is commonly referred to as the
"Wreckage Locator List." This is a list
(click on
CON US Crash Locator
at bottom of list) maintained by Air Force Rescue
Coordination Center at Langley Air Force Base, VA, and used by
the Civil Air Patrol (CAP) to identify old crash sites while search for missing
aircraft. The theory is that if wreckage is spotted and it is
on the list, they know it is old wreckage and can move on.
Of course there is the possibility that the missing plane crashed in the
same spot as an old wreck; think that is far fetched? On 24 December 1944, a
B-24 crashed on Mt. Gleason in Southern CA. The next day, a
BT-13 crashed while circling it. Then, on 10 March 1951 a
Cessna 140 also crashed there. That's three planes at the same
spot! I was at a 1940's propeller airplane crash site in Nevada
and discovered jet engine parts. It took a while, but we
finally figured out that a jet fighter had crashed on top of the
old propeller site in the 1950's. On numerous occasions I have
found a different plane from the one I was searching for in
the same area.
This brings up another problem with the
Wreckage Locator Lists. They were first created in the 1950's,
before GPS. And while the list has been updated over the years
with new crashes added and old ones removed (wrecks that are
sometimes still visible!), the format of the list has not
changed. The locations are given as a coordinate in degrees,
minutes-- no seconds, and no decimal minutes. (For those not
familiar with latitude and longitude coordinates see this
wiki article.) So, if a location is given to the nearest
minute and it is dead-on correct, that leaves an area of 1/2
a minute on either side of that specific location that the
crash could be in-- or roughly one square mile (nautical). Those
who have hiked in this rugged country know just how hard it
would be to find something, even as large as an airplane, in
one square mile-- even from the air. However, the coordinates
on these lists are, on average, about 2 miles off (10 miles
off is not uncommon). That means, on
average, the wreck can be somewhere within 16 square miles of the
position noted on the list-- or up to 200 square miles! Fortunately the CAP realizes both of these points,
which is why they put a person on the ground to check any
wreckage spotted during a search.
The Wreckage
Locator List is not the complete master list of crashes that
the media is making it out to be. It does have errors
and omissions, although for the purpose of conducting a
missing aircraft search, it doesn't really matter. Any old
crash site that is found during a search will be inspected and
ruled out by the CAP. The Wreckage Locator List is useful to
identify a newly re-discovered "old" site if that site happens
to be listed. If the site is not on the list, then more
research must be conducted to identify it. This is the
type of research that AAIR can do.
So all this leads
to two questions: 1. How many old crashes are there in Nevada?
And 2. How many aircraft are still missing in Nevada?
Unfortunately I cannot give you exact numbers. No one knows,
not even the government agencies.
To answer these questions I will give you some hard numbers
that are minimums that I can, and will, back up with
documentation.
First, how many
crashes are there in Nevada?
(I am choosing to look at all of Nevada because that is what
the articles stated.)
I have been to over 75 crash sites in Nevada that
have at least some wreckage remaining at the site. Some
examples are:
By checking AAIR's
on-line database of USAAF/USAF
Accident reports, we come up with almost 150 off-airport
accidents. (See actual list at
very bottom of this page) These are just the
incidents that occurred between 1941 and 1951! Many more have occurred since then, especially during the
1950's and 1960's, when heightened training took place for the
Korea and Vietnam wars. Additionally, there are at least 50 USN
aircraft crashes in the state from the 1940's and early 1950's as well. (See
actual at very bottom of this page) AAIR does not
track civil aircraft crashes, but you can go to the NTSB's
website and search by state to get an idea. Type NV in the
State field, and be sure to set the starting date range to 1962, which is as far back as
the index goes. This gives you a good idea of the number of
additional civil aircraft crashes in the state.
Next question: Are
there any aircraft still missing in Nevada besides Fossett's?
It's possible, but the odds are slim.
I have corresponded with John Lopez, a CAP member and a
historian specializing in missing aircraft. Here is what he
came up with for possible aircraft that couldbe
missing in Nevada:
As I said before some of
these would have to be a real stretch to be found in the
Fossett search area. However, missing planes have been
found in stranger areas. The following aircraft are the
strongest candidates for being found in the search area:
- 13 May 1964 Globe GC-1A
N78087 1 PAX Santa Monica, CA to Wilkensburg, PA
The 52 year old pilot with
700 hours took off on a cross country flight. I have not
been able to find any information in the newspaper
archives for Southern California or Pennsylvania on this
incident that says which route he took. The only other
reference to this missing case is at the Globe Swift
website where they list this aircraft as presumed
crashed on a cross country flight to PA. The FAA
Registry lists the aircraft status as revoked meaning it
is still missing.
- 2 June 1967 Piper PA-28
N4389J 3 PAX San Jose, CA to Ogden, UT
The 28 year old pilot with
70 hours was transporting his parents to Ogden did not
arrive at his first refueling stop in Ely, NV. He was
last heard from over the Tracy-Modesto area of Central
California. This was one of three aircraft that went
missing over the Sierras during a five day period of bad
weather. It is the only one not found after a two week
search. California CAP conducted a search exercise in
October, 1967 using his flight path through the Sierras
as their focus with no results. The FAA Registry lists
the aircraft status as revoked meaning it is still
missing.
- 29 August 1987 Cessna 172P
N65797 1 PAX Van Nuys, CA to ?
The 40 year old retired Army
officer and helicopter pilot had 2500 hours when he went
missing on an evening flight. Relatives and friends told
investigators that he liked to fly north along the coast
at night. I include this as a possible because of the
intriguing leads the investigators found. When they
checked the automated weather briefing they found that
the pilot had asked for weather information for the
Bakersfield-Lake Isabella area as well as Santa Barbara,
Oxnard, San Bernardino, Palms Springs and the Salton
Sea. Not a trace was ever found of the plane or pilot.
The FAA Registry says that the registration number had
been cancelled 8 Sep 1995.
- 6 October 1989 Beech 36TC
N6773C 1 PAX Bend, OR to Reno, NV
The 68 year old pilot with
9000 hours took off on a cross country flight and never
arrived at his destination. I have not been able to find
anything, anywhere in the Oregon newspapers or other
sources about this flight or if a search was ever
conducted. The FAA Registry says that the registration
number has been cancelled 18 Oct 1991 and lists the
plane as “destroyed”, which means it may have been
found.
The following cases are
listed as possibles only because no one has any clue
where these guys went or what their intentions were:
- 3 October 1972 Cessna 172K
N7396G 1 PAX Santa Ana, CA to ?
The 59 year old pilot with
190 hours did not file a flight plan. When queried by
the tower at John Wayne International as to his
destination, the pilot replied he would be back in two
hours. He was never seen or heard from again. This was
one of three such searches that I participated in as a
CAP ground team member in 1972 where the pilot flew into
oblivion. The other two aircraft were eventually found.
As far as I can tell this one was not. We checked leads
in the San Gabriels and Santa Ana Mountains with no luck
The FAA Registry lists the aircraft status as revoked
meaning it is still missing.
- 9 March 1979 Piper PA-28
N8875J 1 PAX Hayward, CA to ?
The 49 year old pilot with
950 hours simply flew away. I have not found anything in
the newspaper archives or any reference to this
incident. The FAA Registry says that the registration
number has since been reassigned.
- 29 March 1983 Cessna 152
N6329M 1 PAX San Luis Obispo, CA to ?
Once again, the 24 year old
pilot with 540 hours rented the plane for a one hour
local flight and never returned. Investigators were told
by friends that the college student was despondent over
grades. I have found no information in the newspapers or
other archives on this incident. The FAA Registry says
that the registration number has since been reassigned.
- 1 June 1984 Bellanca
17-31A N6602V 1 PAX San Jose, CA to ?
The 48 year old pilot with
2700 hours simply parked his car at the airport, boarded
his plane and flew away. The NTSB was not notified until
17 June 1984. The Fremont PD, the investigating agency,
found no trace of the pilot or plane as of 14 June 1985
and closed the book on this case. I have found no
information in the newspapers or other archives. The FAA
Registry says that the registration number has since
been reassigned.
The following cases are not
listed in the NTSB or FAA data bases. This is puzzling
since the circumstances of these disappearances are no
different then the ones listed above that can be found
in their data bases. The supposed reason for not being
included is that there was no evidence the planes
actually crashed. As far as I can tell, they have not
been found:
- 12 July 1956 Taylorcraft
N5087M 1 PAX Oakland, CA to ?
The pilot was a friend of
the owner and took the plane without permission and
never returned. A brief search was conducted with no
results. I could not glean a lot of information from the
newspaper archives. The FAA Registry lists the aircraft
status as revoked meaning it is still missing.
- 20 September 1962 Piper
Tri-Champ Unknown 2 PAX Compton, CA to ?
The 40 year old pilot became
upset that the UCLA Medical Center declined to accept
his 14 year old son into their mental health program and
abruptly departed the house with his son for the
airport. He rented the plane and took off without filing
a flight plan and never returned. Investigators were
later told that the pilot, an aeronautical engineer with
North American Aviation, mentioned to a fellow employee
that he was considering enrolling his son at a mental
health center in Palmdale, California. The plane and
pilot were still missing as of 1 January 1963. This one
is not listed in the NTSB data base.
- 12 August 1964 Cessna 210
Unknown 1 or 2 PAX Oakland, CA to ?
This one has been played up
in the media lately as one possibly missing in the area
of the Fossett search. The 41 year old pilot departed on
vacation from Oakland International Airport.
Investigators were told there was possibly a woman
traveling with him, but were not sure since he filed no
flight plan. He was not reported missing until 17 days
later. His landlord told investigators he went on
vacation but was not told where and for how long. The
pilot’s son has recently told the media that his father
went missing while traveling to Reno. Evidently, this
information was not passed on to the searchers at that
time since the search in 1964 lasted about three days
and centered around the bay area no further east than
the Livermore Hills. Nothing was ever found, yet this
incident will not be found in the NTSB data base.
- 3 May 1969 Beech Musketeer
N2353Q 1 PAX Long Beach, CA to ?
The 22 year old pilot rented
the plane for a two hour local flight in the L.A. Basin,
filed a flight plan and took off around 9:00 PM. He
never returned. A week long search that ranged as far
south as the Mexican border found nothing. He was still
missing as of 9 July 1969. This incident will not be
found in the NTSB data base. The FAA Registry says that
the registration number has since been reassigned.
- 1 May 1974 Cessna 140
N76547 1 PAX(?) Salinas, CA to ?
The plane disappeared over
the weekend and no one saw it depart. However, the
airport manager was making his rounds in the early
evening of the day the plane vanished and stated he saw
a 16 year old local boy crouching near the rear of the
aircraft when he drove by. He thought nothing of it
since the boy frequently worked with the FBO who
operated the aircraft. Investigators later found that
the boy disappeared the same day the plane did. The boy
had no pilots license but frequently flew with other
pilots in this same plane and occasionally handled the
controls. It was still missing as of July, 1974. The FAA
Registry says that the registration number has since
been reassigned. It’s interesting to note that the same
plane was stolen in February, 1965 from the same
airport. It crashed on take off and the perpetrators got
away. Yet, this latest incident will not be found in the
NTSB data base.
There are two or three other
aircraft that went missing from the San Francisco area
under the same circumstances described above that were
eventually found crashed in the Sierras. They can be
found in the NTSB data base. I also have entries for 6
other planes that went missing in the 1950s, but I do
not have registration numbers or even plane types and I
have not been able to confirm whether they have since
been found.
So guys, you can judge for
yourselves whether these fall into the same category and
could possibly have made it as far as western Nevada. If
you come across any information pertaining to these
cases, let me know! Any information would be
appreciated.
The CAP plans to go
back after the search is finished and do a detailed check of the
old sites that were discovered in the process. Those of us
with an historic interest will patiently wait to hear what they
are found to be, because there is more important searching to be done now.
As interest grows in
understanding the nature of these old "forgotten" crash sites,
aviation archaeology
can provide valuable services of research, site location,
identification, and documentation to help agencies,
organizations, and individuals create an historic record of
sites that may be within their jurisdictions.
