High-tech computer joins hunt for Fosset

An aircraft with state-of-the-art imaging technology joined the search for aviator Steve Fossett on Thursday, two days after a plane flown by the adventurer vanished over a rugged region of Nevada. Six planes and three helicopters resumed operations over a mountain terrain after failing to find any trace of Fossett during searches late Monday and Wednedsay.

Fossett, who has survived numerous brushes with death during a series of record-breaking solo flights around the world by balloon and airplane, has not been heard from since taking off from a private airstrip early on Monday.

Major Cynthia Ryan of the Civil Air Patrol revealed that high-tech hyperspectral imaging equipment known as ARCHER, which is capable of distinguishing between objects on the ground, was also being deployed on board a plane flown in from authorities in neighboring Utah.

“ARCHER is essentially something used by the geosciences,” Ryan said.