Fossett, Steve

Steve Fossett, in full James Stephen Fossett, (born April 22, 1944, Jackson, Tennessee, U.S.—disappeared September 3, 2007, western Nevada), American businessman and adventurer who set a number of world records, most notably in aviation and sailing. In 2002 he became the first balloonist to circumnavigate the world alone, and in 2005 he completed the first nonstop solo global flight in an airplane.

Fossett grew up in California, where he studied economics and philosophy at Stanford University, Palo Alto (B.A., 1966). After earning an M.B.A. (1968) at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, he became a successful commodities broker, and in 1980 he founded the securities company Lakota Trading. Fossett undertook a number of challenges, including swimming the English Channel (1985), before gaining international attention with his ballooning feats. In 1995 he registered his first record in the sport with a solo transpacific flight. The following year he began his highly publicized effort to become the first person to balloon around the world alone. The initial attempt, however, ended after three days, and a series of subsequent efforts also failed. In 2002 Fossett made his sixth attempt at the record, taking off from Northam, Western Australia, in the Spirit of Freedom and drifted eastward. On July 2 he made history as he crossed his starting point, eventually landing in the outback of Queensland.

In 2005 Fossett became the first person to fly an airplane around the world solo without stopping or refueling. Piloting the GlobalFlyer, a specialized plane that featured 13 fuel tanks and a 7-foot (2-metre) cockpit, he took off from Salina, Kansas, on February 28 and returned there some 67 hours later, on March 3. On February 8, 2006, he undertook the longest nonstop airplane flight, taking off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, aboard the GlobalFlyer. Some 76 hours later, on February 11, he made an emergency landing in Bournemouth, England, having covered a record 26,389.3 miles (42,469.5 km).

Fossett was also renowned as a speed sailor. In 2001 he and his crew recorded the quickest west-to-east transatlantic crossing—4 days 17 hours 28 minutes 6 seconds—and in 2004 he circumnavigated the globe in an unprecedented time of 58 days 9 hours 32 minutes 45 seconds. During his lifetime he set some 100 records in sailing and aviation, all of which later were broken. His other achievements included the fastest flight (742.02 miles [1,194.17 km] per hour) in a nonsupersonic airplane (2001) as well as a number of gliding records.

On September 3, 2007, Fossett was reported missing after his single-engine plane disappeared during a scouting mission in western Nevada. Subsequent search efforts were hampered by the area’s remoteness and rugged terrain. On February 15, 2008, Fossett was declared dead by a court in Chicago. In October the wreckage of his plane and what were believed to be his remains were found in Inyo National Forest, Nevada; DNA tests later confirmed that the bones were those of Fossett.