On Sunday, we asked Defense Tech readers to join in the search of adventurer and aerospace pioneer Steve Fossett, who went down in a single-engine, civilian aircraft more than a week ago.
He flew out of an air station in western Nevada without a flight plan and never returned.
In our post, we made readers aware of an effort to enlist bloggers and concerned Internet users into the search. Using Google Maps and other software, Fossett friends have been scouring thousands of miles of terrain.
Defense Tech reader Brian Neville sent us a note last night with the following coordinates, saying he thinks he might have spotted something.
Now, Im no photo-interpreter, but looking at the hazy image on Google Maps, it seems maybe hes got something.
COORDINATES:
38 degrees, 29 minutes, 45.05 sec North
119 degrees, 17 minutes, 40.96 sec West
elevation = 9976 ft according to Google Earth.
So far, neither Brian nor I have been able to find out whom to pass the tip along to and maybe its not a new one, as the Daily Telegraph has reported but Id ask other DT readers to help us pass this along and keep their eyes on the net for this aviation pioneer.
Let me know what you all find…
{ 19 comments… read them below or add one }
I just checked that location in Google Earth, using the Ikonos supplied by mturk.com, and that feature isn’t showing up. I believe that google maps is way out of date and the new Ikonos should be used for doing the search.
I can confirm the object is no longer there with the new KML. Google and Richard Branson worked together to have the area in question reimaged for this search. Hence the reason you have to load a new KML into Google Earth.
This article confirms Google got involved; it sounds like Saturday the 8th was the first time any updated imagery was available. And none of that means the imagery was actually farmed out to the world in general via Google Maps or Google Earth.
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jEzmBaeGz1isnfWN50zvmMHVO83Q
The other thing is, if you measure out that mystery-blob referenced in the DT article, a generously-sized bounding box measures out to only about five or six feet on a side (this looks to be about 6-inch-pixel resolution based on the scale indicator in Google Maps).
Do airplanes not have tracking beacons, a la Lojack? If you can track a cell phone with appropriate technology, it would seem a pretty minimal safety precaution to have such a thing.
While the resourceful aviator could scratch water, food and shelter from the desolate Nevada landscape, experts said his first order of business would have been signaling rescuers.
Fossett’s plane was equipped with an emergency beacon, and he was wearing a high-tech watch capable of generating a similar signal. Searchers have received no signal from either device, and haven’t spotted a lower-tech distress signal such as a fire or massive X made of rocks or sticks.
I put that coordinate into my basic Google maps and it sure did look like an airplane, albeit a white one, Fossett’s plane is blue with white. Often times though, Google images catches airplanes inflight so it’s not a given that image was on the ground. I also tried to go to the MTurk site as Thomas mentioned and the coordinates seemed to not resolve exactly to the same around the image.
Either way, I searched in vain for a contact number for a tip line and having failed at that, I called the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center and passed on the gouge and Defense Tech’s website, of course, credit where credit is due.
I really think this kind of stuff is the wave of the future.
http://maps.yahoo.com/broadband#mvt=s&q1=38+29+45.05N%2C+119+17+35W&trf=0&lon=-119.294379&lat=38.496144&mag=1
As another datapoint, yahoo maps shows no such feature.
I do wish the imagery on yahoo and google had a datestamp on it, but I doubt that the google earth image that I have is recent, and it also shows the feature, which means it isn’t Fossett. Has anyone been to site?
Aircraft are required to have an Emergency Locator Transmitter (ELT) which activates with a “G” switch and then transmits on 121.5 MHz, 243.0 MHz, and (the newer ELTs) 406 MHz.
It’s curious as to why the beacon has not been reported. Did it malfunction? Did the aircraft crash in a lake and it’s underwater?
1 Steve Fossett didnt make any flight plans with I think with the FAA and you are suspose to do that coming and going thats LAW so other Flights know your up there.2If and when he went down a Automatic Becon goes off doesnt matter how bad your planes is only if it burns up I know this been around planes senes I was 13 years old and Steve hasnt turned on anything either no fires nothing he evens has a type of CB in the plane even an Emerency one like the AirForce does.I really hope you all find him really do BUT IT Sounds Like He doesnt want to be found Im sorry You can be mad at me all you want.
Can we have a rule from now on that we’re not going to bother searching for anyone too dumb to file a flight plan?
Hey ThunderWolf6,
The period “is your friend at the end”.
having before and after imagry why isn’t someone doing a comparison. I know there is software that can compare images and target items that were not in the first set to items that are there now. Just a thought.
I agree with ThunderWolf in that he did NOT want to be found…perhaps this is a STUNT??? I hope not, and it he is indeed in trouble, he is at fault for making it nearly impossible to fine him.
Eventually, he will be found, but probably where no one expects.
Good luck to any searchers, I hope that he is found soon.
GoogleEarth has updated maps of the search area. Amazon has also joined the search, and is providing search grids at their “mechanical turk” site: http://www.mturk.com/mturk/welcome. Evidently, these are updated, 1-meter resolution grids that overlap, so many people view the same areas for redundancy.
Why not simply pan the day before image to that one? There’s quite a bit out there randomly spewn. Back in the late 70′s we ‘dumped’ everything from you can imagine out for ‘quota’ budgets…
I mean everything and anything…plus you have the narcottics to deal with.
We could read a newspaper in Red Square by 1969. If we can’t find him, he took a different flight path and why in hades didn’t he have a transponder?
Makes no sense, unless his ‘days were numbered and he’d rather be dead then red…’ so to speak.
Too much of a ‘fluke’ even if they find him, I wouldn’t believe it was true at this juncture.
Evening all look there is a Billionale paying out alot of money People whois looking for him have the Right equipment I have the Right Equipment and the numbers they gave is wrong or something because it didnt show a thing at these Degrees I can see you house right on the button friends what color what kind of house etc and I just had my equipment recalbed.Im sorry but they have better REDO THE NUMBERS!!!but I admit even the Best of the Best Equipment can MESS UP!!!!!ANYWAYS all I thought I would let you all know I looked for A mile every 4 Directions there was nothing But dont be down keep on LOOKING OK GOD BLESS!!!!
ThunderWolf6, are you smarter than a Fifth Grader?…NOT!!! The sparse substance of your comments is completely eroded by a gross lack of grammatical endowment and writing skill. Credibility suffers with communication failure.
Why don’t they use the satallite photos of the area before Fossett took off and then compare the photos a day after. Surely with the technology available, it would be easier to scan areas with high resolution photos then trying to imitate his flight plan.
Now a man with his abilities and intelligence must have told someone where he was going and someone at the other end must havebeen expecting him.Atleast someone check all Radar Activety that day and see if they can pickup a screen from where he left and see what direction he headed.That might just give an idea as to where he might havebeen going.Get the old protractor out and get a direction.I happen to know the Military for a fact has Individuals that are able to identify objects such as that and are accract 99.9% of the time off arial photos,so go figure?