More bones found at Fossett site

MAMMOTH LAKES, Calif. -- Investigators discovered three more bone fragments Friday while combing the high Sierra Nevada site where Steve Fossett's airplane smashed into the side of a mountain, authorities said.

The bits of bone are "consistent in size" with a 2-inch-long piece of bone a search team found on Thursday, Madera County Sheriff's Department spokeswoman Erica Stuart said. Like the first fragment, the new pieces of evidence will be sent to a state crime lab to determine if they are human remains and if so, whether they match Fossett's DNA.

Meanwhile, a recovery crew helicoptered small bundles of debris from the granite mountainside where the wreckage of the millionaire adventurer's borrowed airplane lay hidden for more than a year after his disappearance. The authorities wanted to wrap up their on-scene investigation ahead of a storm that threatened to bury any remaining evidence in up to 2 feet of snow.

Mangled and charred plane parts and other items were headed to a warehouse in Sacramento where investigators would lay them out for examination. There were a lot of pieces, "consistent with a high-energy impact, which means the aircraft was traveling at great speed," Mark Rosenker, acting chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, said Friday at a press briefing.

"We'll be looking at the entire fuselage to make sure nothing broke off to cause the accident," he said.

Teams of volunteers and local and federal search crews armed with cadaver dogs furiously combed the crash site for clues that could help piece together the mystery of why the famed adventurer's plane crashed, but were pulled off the mountain as dark clouds rolled in and the winds picked up.

Fossett vanished on Sept. 3, 2007, during what was supposed to be a short pleasure flight from a Nevada ranch owned by his friend, Barron Hilton.

Despite several searches by air and on the ground over the past year, efforts to find his single-engine plane had been unsuccessful. The break came this week when a hiker found Fossett's identification cards in a remote wilderness area near Mammoth Lake, about 65 miles southwest of Hilton's ranch.

A thrill-seeker, Fossett gained worldwide fame for setting records in high-tech balloons, gliders, jets and boats. In 2002, he became the first person to circle the world solo in a balloon. Investigators wondered if weather had anything to do with the fatal crash.

"Mr. Fossett is an accomplished aviator who flew very complicated aircraft, yet on this day he was flying one relatively simple to fly," Rosenker said. "It will take us a while to understand this very interesting and very tragic accident."

NTSB is attempting to gather radar and weather data to determine what the conditions were in the area the day of the accident. They are hoping the radar data will help them pinpoint the actual time of the crash.

"Maybe we'll be able to grab radar data and get lucky," Rosenker said.

Fossett left the ranch around 9 a.m. and was due for lunch with Hilton at noon. He was last seen about an hour before the planned lunch, flying less than 100 feet above the ground not far from the ranch, according to a report last month by the NTSB.

Weather records should allow investigators to "have a better understanding of potential winds, clouds and turbulence. The process is not simple," Rosenker said.

According to the National Weather Service, it was generally clear and calm in the Mammoth Lakes region the morning of Sept. 3, 2007. Local officials say some storm clouds did move in, however.

Investigators also have recovered gauges from the plane they hope will show speed and altitude.

Bill Manning, airport and transportation director at Mammoth Yosemite Airport, said the high Sierra is a beautiful but dangerous area to fly, estimating that the region has three to five small plane crashes every year.

"It's hugely rugged. ... It's a fabulous environment but unforgiving, for sure," he said. "Anytime you fly in the mountains, it's not like you're going to land on a highway. There just aren't many places you can put an airplane down and walk away."