# Uncharted plane crashes **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 8, 2007, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uncharted-plane-crashes/418472 "2007-09-08T16:55:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2007, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uncharted-plane-crashes/418472/1 "2007-09-08T16:55:49Z")
Searchers searching for Steve Fossett have located ‘uncharted’ plane crashes. Does this mean that they were never found? Or just that they were never charted? If the former, will they look for remains? ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2007, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uncharted-plane-crashes/418472/2 "2007-09-08T21:09:07Z")
Most likely they are not well-known crash sites, and so the searchers don’t automatically discount them. Very obvious ones are sometimes removed/blown up to stop constant false alarms from people new to the area ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2007, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uncharted-plane-crashes/418472/3 "2007-09-08T21:18:12Z")
[QUOTE=Mk VII] Most likely they are not well-known crash sites, and so the searchers don’t automatically discount them. Very obvious ones are sometimes removed/blown up to stop constant false alarms from people new to the area [/QUOTE] Somewhere I got the impression that crash sites, when found, were marked so as to be visible from aerial searches. Maybe the markers got blown away or some such thing. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2007, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uncharted-plane-crashes/418472/4 "2007-09-09T03:09:25Z")
What I was getting at is, if a previously undiscovered crash site is found, would a party be sent out to look for human remains? ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2007, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uncharted-plane-crashes/418472/5 "2007-09-09T13:06:54Z")
[QUOTE=Johnny L.A.] Searchers searching for Steve Fossett have located ‘uncharted’ plane crashes. Does this mean that they were never found? Or just that they were never charted? If the former, will they look for remains? [/QUOTE] I was in CAP too. Ground team. Is there even a ‘chart’ of where wrecks are? Anyway, I think the requirements to clean up the reckage is pretty loose. Or it used to be. Depends on how difficult it is to reach the site. Could they be finding old sites that are WHERE found but just not cleaned all the way up? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2007, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uncharted-plane-crashes/418472/6 "2007-09-09T15:05:28Z")
[QUOTE=enipla] Is there even a ‘chart’ of where wrecks are? … Could they be finding old sites that are WHERE found but just not cleaned all the way up? [/QUOTE] ISTR seeing wrecks on sectionals, but now I’m not so sure. (I know shipwrecks are on marine charts, as they may be a hazard.) I do remember seeing photos of crash sites that show big red 'X’es painted on them. Yes, they’re finding old crash sites that were largely left in place. (I’d assume that valuable components will have been salvaged.) What do the Media mean when they say ‘uncharted’? That the wrecks are not on the charts? Or if they’re not on the charts, they’re not on other charts or in a database? Do they mean that some of the wreck sites have never been found? (Which leads to the question about what will be done with previously-unknown crash sites.) Unfortunately the Media don’t know anything about aviation. They’re still like 'OMG! Fossett was flying _without a flight plan!_ :eek: ’ We really need another Hal Fishman. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2007, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uncharted-plane-crashes/418472/7 "2007-09-10T01:32:04Z")
I’ve found the answer to my question at [MSNBC](http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20639827/): > [@](#): > > The Florida-based Air Force Rescue Coordination Center, which is helping coordinate the search, maintains a registry of known plane wreck sites. > > The registry has 129 entries for Nevada. But over the last 50 years, aviation officials estimate, more than 150 small planes have disappeared in Nevada, a state with more than 300 mountain ranges carved with steep ravines, covered with sagebrush and pinon pine trees and with peaks rising to 11,000 feet. > > “The mountains are quite rugged, and things don’t always get found,” said Maj. Cynthia Ryan of the Nevada Civil Air Patrol. > > Once the search for Fossett is over, or significantly scaled back, inspectors from the Federal Aviation Administration likely will be sent to each of the newly discovered wrecks. They will try to identify the pilots and bring closure to their families, agency spokesman Ian Gregor said. > > No human remains have been found at any of the crash sites discovered so far. But that’s not a surprise, given their age and that the region is populated by coyotes and mountain lions.