Steve Fossett, born in 1944, was an incredible aviation pioneer. The first half of his life was spent earning millions as a trader in Chicago, but he then enjoyed his fortune by breaking records in true daredevil fashion.
It took Fossett six attempts to fly around the world in a hot-air balloon, solo, but he did eventually. One of those attempts, at age 54, ended in his balloon catching fire at 29,000 feet and him crashing into the Pacific Ocean and waiting 10 hours before being rescued. Because once around the world is not enough, he took off in 2005 in his airplane – equipped with 13 fuel tanks – and landed 67 hours later despite a fuel leak, GPS system failure, and the loss of his emergency oxygen system. This was the first nonstop solo …show more content…
In 76 hours, he flew 26,389.3 miles before executing an emergency landing due to fuel starvation. Throughout his life, he accomplished other feats including glider flights to record heights and the fastest speed in a nonsupersonic airplane. In addition to aviation records, Fossett held many records in speed sailing and filled his free time with achievements like swimming the English Channel, racing sled dogs, and climbing some of the highest mountains in the world.
Fossett’s final flight was in the Western mountains of Nevada where he crashed in September of 2007. His remains and those of his Super Decathalon were discovered 13 months later. It is believed that he was caught in a mountain downdraft. Due to the thin air, his climb performance was already decreased which caused his airplane to collide with a mountain, and left him no options. Despite his incredible talent as a pilot, there would have been nothing that he could have done once the situation was observed.
During the long and expensive search to find the missing celebrity the FAA began to suggest that pilots use digital transmitters instead of the traditional ELTs which were unreliable and in the case of the one in Fossett’s plane, occasionally didn’t work at
It took Fossett six attempts to fly around the world in a hot-air balloon, solo, but he did eventually. One of those attempts, at age 54, ended in his balloon catching fire at 29,000 feet and him crashing into the Pacific Ocean and waiting 10 hours before being rescued. Because once around the world is not enough, he took off in 2005 in his airplane – equipped with 13 fuel tanks – and landed 67 hours later despite a fuel leak, GPS system failure, and the loss of his emergency oxygen system. This was the first nonstop solo …show more content…
In 76 hours, he flew 26,389.3 miles before executing an emergency landing due to fuel starvation. Throughout his life, he accomplished other feats including glider flights to record heights and the fastest speed in a nonsupersonic airplane. In addition to aviation records, Fossett held many records in speed sailing and filled his free time with achievements like swimming the English Channel, racing sled dogs, and climbing some of the highest mountains in the world.
Fossett’s final flight was in the Western mountains of Nevada where he crashed in September of 2007. His remains and those of his Super Decathalon were discovered 13 months later. It is believed that he was caught in a mountain downdraft. Due to the thin air, his climb performance was already decreased which caused his airplane to collide with a mountain, and left him no options. Despite his incredible talent as a pilot, there would have been nothing that he could have done once the situation was observed.
During the long and expensive search to find the missing celebrity the FAA began to suggest that pilots use digital transmitters instead of the traditional ELTs which were unreliable and in the case of the one in Fossett’s plane, occasionally didn’t work at