Area where Fossett found difficult to search by air

News that wreckage found in the rugged eastern Sierra Nevada mountains of California is that of Steve Fossett's plane was met with relief today by Civil Air Patrol members who combed 22,000 square miles in a monthlong search for the missing adventurer.

"I'm glad they found the crash site," said Lt. Col. Ronald Butts, a pilot who served as a liaison officer between CAP and other agencies involved in the massive 2007 search, which began on Labor Day when Fossett left a Nevada ranch owned by hotel magnate Barron Hilton and never returned.

"Perhaps this will bring some closure for his wife Peggy," said Butts, who added that Fossett had a tremendous amount of friends worldwide who were concerned when he disappeared. "They get closure from this, too," he said.

The discovery in the Mammoth Lakes area comes nearly one year to the day after CAP officially suspended its search for Fossett on Oct. 3, 2007. Hundreds of CAP members from eight states participated in the search, the largest in modern history. Other agencies, including representatives from Hilton's Flying M ranch, searched the area as well.

"We flew that area almost every day searching from different angles and flying during different times of the day," said Butts. "The area was well-covered, because we had a radar track that led there."

Butts said the rugged, mountainous, tree-covered terrain gave CAP less than a 10 percent probability of detecting debris from the wreckage during aerial fly-overs. "It's the equivalent to finding a needle in a haystack," he said. The fact that a large portion of the small aircraft was fabric-covered and that the aircraft quite likely burned on impact leaving very little exposed fabric or metal, also made it harder to find.

Between Sept. 4 and 16, CAP flew 32 sorties and spent 65 hours in the area where the plane was found. "We were in that area almost every day," Butts said.

CAP aircrews were often hampered by wind gusts associated with the Sierras' 8,500- and 11,000-feet elevations.

"Everything we could have done was done," he said.

Butts said the wreckage was found about 45 miles from Bishop, Calif., where CAP set up one of its two mission bases for the Fossett search. The other was in Minden, near Hilton's ranch, which is 90 miles to the north of where the wreckage was found. The site was found after a hiker found identification documents belonging to Fossett earlier in the week. The wreckage was found about a quarter-mile from where the hiker found the IDs on Monday.