Ranch hand last to see Fossett flying

The aircraft millionaire aviator Steve Fossett was flying when he disappeared last year was seen twice by a Flying M Hunting Club employee within a dozen miles of the southern Lyon County airstrip from which it had been launched.

Fossett's last hours on the Flying M ranch are detailed in a National Transportation Safety Board report which states that Fossett is presumed to have been fatally injured in a crash.

The Flying M's chief pilot told investigators that he ate breakfast with Fossett on Labor Day 2007 and asked him what he wanted to do.

Fossett told the chief pilot that he wanted to fly the Super Decathlon south to Highway 395 and the Owens Valley. The Flying M pilot prepared the aircraft for flight and confirmed it was full of fuel. Fossett conducted his own preflight check at about 8:15 a.m. Sept. 3, 2007.

A short time after Fossett took off, a Flying M ranch hand reported seeing the Decathalon flying south at 150-200 feet off the ground.

"The employee knew the airplane well, because it was commonly used for spotting cattle, which he was responsible for rounding up," the report said.

More than two hours later, between 10:55 and 11:10 a.m., the hand reported seeing the Decathlon again, about 11 nautical miles south of the airstrip flying low.

"He said the airplane flew within 200 feet of him heading east, at an altitude of less than 100 feet," the report said. "He watched the airplane fly towards the Mud Springs area, located about 1.5 miles from his position."

Back at the Flying M airstrip, the chief pilot expected Fossett to return between 10:30 and 11 a.m. Fossett's personal pilot was waiting for him at the airstrip at 11 a.m. When Fossett had not returned by 11:30 a.m., an aerial search was begun. No emergency radio nor was emergency locator transmitter signals were received.

By the next morning the world knew Fossett was missing and a massive search involving the Civil Air Patrol, state and county authorities began based out of Minden-Tahoe Airport.

According to the NTSB, Fossett's most recent FAA medical certificate was issued on Feb. 14, 2007. He was certified in multiple types of aircraft, including helicopters, gliders and balloons.

The aircraft was built in 1980 and last inspected on April 8, 2007. The weather was fairly calm on the day of Fossett's last flight with winds at 3 knots, visibility of 10 miles, clear and the temperature was 88 degrees. Another pilot reported encountering moderate turbulence at 11,500 feet near Hawthorne.