Did Steve Fossett fake his own death?

Into thin air: Did Steve Fossett fake his own death?

Last September, America's great aviation daredevil took off on a routine solo flight, and was never seen again. Now, as allegations of an elaborate double life begin to emerge, investigators are questioning whether he really died – or even crashed – at all. In Nevada, Guy Adams pieces together the evidence

If Steve Fossett had been asked to choose the manner of his parting, it's quite likely he'd have decided to simply fly off into the sunset. And give or take a few daylight hours, that's more or less what happened: on the morning of Monday 3 September 2007, the world-famous adventurer, pioneer and all-round hero of aviation left a secluded Nevada airfield for a routine pleasure flight over the local desert. He never returned.


To fans of the feats of endurance Fossett had shoehorned into his 63 years, the disappearance sparked a mixture of concern – and disbelief. Here was a man who had circumnavigated the globe in a hot-air balloon, and set more than 100 records in five adventure sports (60 of which still stand), and clambered from the wreckage of almost as many crashed aircraft as he'd eaten vacuum-packed dinners. Here, in short, was a born survivor.

On Sunday, Lt-Col Cynthia Ryan of the US Civil Air Patrol, official spokeswoman for the search-and-rescue operation, was quoted as saying that she believes Fossett may not have actually crashed. Her astonishing theory is that this all-American hero had somehow faked his own death.

Ryan's claim is supported by Robert Davis, a life insurance loss adjuster who spent several months compiling a report into the Fossett affair. Both experts believe that several elements of the incident simply do not add up – and their theory is now being supported by an array of aviation experts, private detectives and good, old-fashioned conspiracy theorists.

The faked-death story goes as follows. In the months leading up to his death, Fossett may have been leading what breathless news reports describe as "a secret double life".

click post title for more