Steve Fossett,  millionaire entrepreneur who holds numerous aviation flight records, was last seen Monday at 8:45 a.m. local time at a ranch south of Smith Valley in western Nevada.  Fossett departed  Barron Hilton's Flying M Ranch, (a private airstrip) located about 100 kilometres southeast of Reno.  When he did not return at noon a search was started.

At a news conference, Cynthia Ryan of the Civil Air Patrol said Fossett's single-engine Citabra Super Decathlon is a reliable, durable plane flown by many pilots in the region, and can be used to perform tricks.  "However I understand Mr. Fosset did not care for acrobatics so it's unlikely he would have been doing anything like that," Ryan told reporters.

"People of his experience and background sometimes like to go out and push the envelope a little, although I understand from his pilot he was a very conservative pilot."

Fossett is probably best known for setting five world records for non-stop circumnavigations of the globe.  He holds world records in airplanes, gliders and sailboats.