I just received an update on the search from Jeff, a leader of the search crew in Nevada. They have also requested that we compile a summary of all 'possibles' identified by you, our YouChoose members. This will allow them to systematically follow up on any leads they may have missed in reading through our forum.

They've searched 17,000 square miles. Air searches, despite being scaled back, continue to be carried out by Civil Air Patrol, National Guard and Hilton Flying M Ranch crews (which owned the Citabria Super Decathlon that was being flown by Fossett). As many as 30 fixed wing aircraft and 24 helicopters have been in use. Numerous sites have led to ground patrols, including leads provided by YouChoose members. For example, we notified search crews on Sunday September 16, that one of our members, Michael R. had posted the following picture of an airplane part:

Try here. N38*46.174' W119*42.886' . This is where I found this http://www.fototime.com/167BA8A6411BDC8/standard.jpg . It was in the East Fork of the Carson River right where the hot spring drops into the Carson River. I found it around 3-4pm on Sept 3 and pulled it out of the river to take the picture. It was the only piece of aircraft around and looked like it had been there a while so I didn't think much of it when I got back from my trip. Also maybe of note that there was a smoke from a fire blowing toward me from the West the next morning (Sept 4th) around 8-10am from what seemed like a forest fire.

The search team sent in the ground pounders to check it out and determined that it was an old crash site. So they are following up on our leads. And specifically, that’s why they called us today. To make sure that they have adequately pursued all the leads vetted by YouChoose members.

This search has been daunting. Aircraft flying over dense wooded areas at 300 feet are unable to see anything on the ground. Ground Pounders sent in are unable to see high into the tress. It would be easy for an airplane to stay hidden for years in such an area. In addition, the imagery provided by google on Mechanical Turk, although high definition pictures, can be easily misleading. Jeff gave one example of a clear image showing an airplane tail section in a lake that upon ground inspection turned out to be a “series of white rocks in the lake.”

That said, many of the hits identified here on YouChoose have been well-vetted by multiple members. We will be sending them an updated compilation of all reported hits. And we will update you here on whatever feedback we receive.

And once again, thank you all for the great job you’ve been doing and for the super effort you’ve put in in this search.