Investigators ponder aviator Steve Fossett's last flight. He owned a vacation home in Carmel and frequently flew out of Monterey.

On September 3, 2007, Steve Fossett took off in a stunt plane for a joy ride. He never returned. Fossett was a world record aviator and adventurer — he set 116 records in five different sports — and a frequent visitor to his second home in Carmel. In 2005 he became the first balloon pilot to fly around the world. In 2006, he completed the longest distance flight, 25,766 statute miles, which he completed in just under 77 hours. And when Fossett never returned from his early morning flight a year ago, it led to one more record: the largest search and rescue operation in history. The rescue effort was not successful and was eventually called off and he was declared legally dead by the court in February 2008. But last week, on September 29, an off-trail hiker in the Inyo National Forest near Mammoth Lakes spotted some cash and identification cards with Fossett's name, and then wreckage from the missing plane. What caused this great aviator to crash? As helicopters cart away the remaining parts for the NTSB's forthcoming investigation, questions abound. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/3125782/Body-parts-found-in-wreckage-of-Steve-Fossetts-plane.html http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=95289754&ft=1&f=1021