Fossett search ''downgraded''; searchers fast losing hope
22 Sep 2007
The Nevada Civil Air Patrol has ''downgraded'' the search for missing adventurer Steve Fossett, suspending aerial missions while keeping two aircraft on standby to follow up any leads about his whereabouts. The Patrol says it has already searched over 98 per cent of the ground that needed to be covered.
The National Guard is, however, continuing its search with five helicopters, while ground-based rescuers scour the enormous area in which the remains of the presumably dead aviator and his Bellanca Citabria Super Decathalon are likely to be found.
Attempts to locate Fossett have been hampered by the fact that he did not file a flight plan before taking off on 3 September from Barron Hilton''s Flying M Ranch, roughly 70 miles southeast of Reno.
Efforts
by volunteers using the latest satellite images from Google Earth to spot the
plane''s wreckage have also proved fruitless. Those involved in the search now
increasingly say that Fossett "may never be found".