This post is kind of a sensitive topic model post, which is hard to write and probably not so pleasant to read, because what I will say here is not easy to say, but anyone probably knows it has to be said. I thought of writing it for a while, and I decided to give it a go after NTSB published a preliminary information about Steve Fosset’s aircraft stating 1 fatal casualty.

Steve Fossett has been reported missing on the 3rd of September, 18 days ago now, and searches are still going on, even if Civil Air Patrol stopped its effort. According to Fossett’s website, Army, National Guard and private efforts are going on, together with privately operated search operations. The sattelite search via Amazon is continuing as well, and always helped to locate six other wreckages, some old of decades.

I’m obviously supporting these efforts, and expressing all my personal sympathy to the family, friends, colleagues and fans of Steve Fossett, who is certainly a great pilot and adventurer, to mention only two of his numerous qualities.

What makes the topic sensitive is that the kind of efforts deployed to search after him are quite unusual. Part of the work is fund by private organisations and this certainly helps. If the plane had been flown by any anonymous pilot (like me…), how large would have the effort been ? Would even Army and National Guard take part of searches for a John Doe, or would such a case given “only” to CAP ?This is certainly not a pleasant question to ask, nor to answer, because it forces us to realise that rules are not the same for all of us, and that it’s better to be rich and famous than a standard guy. The best example of it is has been reported by various medias (CBS news report here), it is about someone who lost his father in 1964 in the same region. The plane has never been found, and may be one of the crash sites identified while searching for Fossett could bring some answers to this family.

It is true that the technical means that were available to search this particular aircraft in 1964 had nothing in common to what is available today. But why did we not use those modern means systematically when they became availalbe ? Sattelite imagery and thermal scanners have not been invented after Fossett was reported missing. We could have used them for years, trying to locate planes that have been missing for a while. So what ?

At this time, you’re probably looking away, and I’m sorry if I make you feel embarrassed, but the truth is here. We did not started such global searches because of money. We have to ask ourselves if we want our tax money to go in search operations for wreckages which are potentially several decades old ?Is that worth ? Or shall such searches been fund privately ?

In the Google Earth era, shall we not start a global search for crash sites ? Searching for Fossett shown that this is technically possible. If part of Steve Fossett’s personal wealth could help to start such a thing, I’m sure he would be proud of it. If anyone else (Sir Richard Branson or Mr. Bertrand Piccard may be ?) feels like creating a fundation with this purpose, I’m ready to help !