It’s been more than one year since evidence found on a remote forest trail north of Mammoth Lakes led investigators to the crash site of then-missing adventurer Steve Fossett. He took off on Sept. 3, 2007, from a private Nevada airstrip on what was supposed to be a short, Labor Day weekend flight along the rugged Eastern Sierra — his widow, Peggy, called it “a Sunday drive” — from which he never returned. The fate of the millionaire adventurer was a mystery until local hiker Preston Morrow’s discovery of some of Fossett’s belongings, including two identification cards, in October 2008 ultimately led to the charred wreckage of what was his last flight.
Much time has passed, but even with results from forensics and other tests and studies, precious little is really known about why Fossett crashed and what happened to him in his final moments.
One account of special interest is from an unidentified camper, who thinks he saw the plane moments before it slammed into a remote Eastern Sierra mountainside.
According to a final report compiled this past spring by the National Transportation Safety Board, the camper watched the plane struggle at an altitude of about 11,500 feet as strong winds blew out of the southwest. “It looked like it was standing still due to the wind,” said the camper. The report indicates that Fossett likely died “on impact” of “multiple traumatic injuries,” and winds “could have contributed” to the crash. He was ultimately identified by bone fragments, all that remained of him when the the wreck was found a year later.
