YERINGTON, Nev., Sept. 4 (UPI) -- Rescuers in western Nevada were searching for world aviation record-holder Steve Fossett, an aviation spokeswoman said Tuesday.
The Civil Air Patrol said Fossett, 63, took off from a private airstrip about 30 miles south of Yerington, Nev., Monday evening with enough fuel for four to five hours of flight, CNN reported.
Civil Air Patrol Maj. Cynthia S. Ryan said authorities were searching hundreds of miles of rugged terrain in western Nevada and analyzing radar data to try to track Fossett. High winds were posing a problem in the search.
Six search aircraft were participating in the search, Ryan said. Aircraft from the Naval Air Station Fallon in Nevada and the California Highway Patrol are aiding the search.
Fossett is the record-holder for the first solo, non-stop, non-refueled airplane trip around the world, set in the Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer in 2005. In 2006, he used a GlobalFlyer to break the world's flight distance record, traveling more than 26,000 miles in 76 hours.
He circumvented the globe in a solo balloon flight in 2002, traveling 20,626 miles in two weeks.
