Pilot’s license found may be Fossett’s

A hiker in a rugged part of eastern California found a pilot’s license and other items that appear to belong to Steve Fossett, the adventurer who vanished on a solo flight more than a year ago.

The hiker said he found an FAA identity card, a pilot’s license, a third ID and $1,005 in cash tangled in a bush off a trail just west of the town of Mammoth Lakes on Monday.

Fossett, a billionaire entrepreneur and aviation adventurer, recently circumnavigated the globe in a balloon. Fossett was last seen on Sept. 3, 2007, after taking off in a single-engine airplane . A judge declared Fossett legally dead in February following a search for the famed aviator that covered 20,000 square miles.

Mammoth Lakes is at an elevation of more than 7,800 feet on the eastern flank of the Sierra Nevada, where peaks top 13,000 feet. This year’s biggest search for Fossett focused on a mountain range in neighboring Nevada, more than 50 miles north of Mammoth Lakes. That search ended last month.

Fossett’s widow said in a statement Wednesday that she was “…hopeful that this search will locate the crash site and [her] husband’s remains…”

The CFR’s specifically address this circumstance in CFR Section 61.3. This section states that a person may not act as pilot in command or in any other capacity as a required pilot flight crewmember, unless that person has a valid pilot in that person’s physical possession or readily accessible in the aircraft . Furthermore, the CFR’s require the PIC to have a photo identification that is in that person’s physical possession or readily accessible in the aircraft. The photo identification must be a valid driver’s license, a Government identification card, U.S. Armed Forces’ identification card or an official passport.

If these are in fact the property of the the missing pilot, they will be extremely helpful in assisting the local authorities to locate the downed airplane.  It has been said that “reason is at the heart of the law”.  Though FAA CFR’s are not “law”, they carry the weight of the law.  It can certainly be said that “reason” is at the heart of CFR Section 61.3.  That “reason” is not simply so that you would have documentation to provide the authorities in the event you get an unwelcomed ”ramp inspection”, but also to assist rescuers in the event you don’t make your intended destination. 

 As a sole pilot at the controls of a general aviation aircraft, you are the pilot in command of that aircraft. As PIC, you are responsible for adhering to the FAA Code of Federal Regulations. If you fail to adequately adhere to those regulations and are being accused of an aviation related violation, you need the help of a competent attorney as soon as possible. Please contact Houston & Blanco at (714) 841-3921 for a free consultiona or input your contact information and tell us a little bit about your situation at our website at www.HBLawyers.net.