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Crash site investigators found human remains amid the wreckage
of Steve Fossett's small plane on a remote California mountain, the
chief of the National Transportation Safety Board said on
Thursday.
Parts of the small plane lost more than a year ago were scattered
over a large debris field at around 3,048 metres on a mountain near
the Nevada border, and search crews found a "very small" amount of
human remains, Mark Rosenker, acting NTSB chairman, told Reuters by
telephone.
"Did we find some? Yes, a very, very small amount," Rosenker
said.
Fossett, 63, vanished after taking off in a single-engine Bellanca
Citabria Super Decathlon on Sept. 3, 2007, from the airstrip of
hotel magnate Barron Hilton's ranch in Nevada, sparking a long but
fruitless search.
The finding of human remains may close months of debate over
whether the millionaire adventurer actually died, although Rosenker
said local officials would be responsible for examining the
remains.
"It will be taken by the sheriff and the coroner and they will do
the work," Rosenker said.
A local sheriff's official said a bone had been found at the crash
site but declined to say if it was human or animal.
Rosenker at an earlier news conference noted that a judge had
declared Fossett dead.
"Our job is to determine what happened on the mountain," he said.
"Given the length of time that wreckage has been there it is not
surprising to come into a debris field and not find a lot of human
remains."
Clues Came Suddenly
Clues to Fossett's disappearance came suddenly this week when a
hiker not far from Yosemite National Park found identification
cards and cash, prompting a full-on search that uncovered the crash
site.
Investigators confirmed on Thursday the small plane was the one in
which Fossett took off a year ago.
Parts of the aircraft were scattered over a swath of mountain 46
metres wide by almost 122 metres long. A helicopter ferried
investigators close to the site and will be used to haul away
pieces of the plane on Friday - before a snow storm sweeps
in.
Despite weeks of extensive land and air searches after Fossett
disappeared last year, no wreckage was found, and he was declared
legally dead in February after investigators concluded his plane
was destroyed in a fatal accident.
Even before Thursday, family and friends took the week's events as
an end to the saga.
"The uncertainty surrounding my husband's death over this past year
has created a very difficult situation for me," said his widow,
Peggy Fossett. "I hope now to be able to bring to closure a very
painful chapter in my life."
"Now that the plane has been found we can finally bring closure to
Steve's wonderful life," Richard Branson, Virgin Group founder and
Fossett's friend, said in London.
"The frivolous stories can also be put to rest and family, friends
and the rest of the world can now pay tribute to a truly great and
extraordinary man," Branson said.
