Google Earth Used To Find Downed Airplane

Google Earth has already been used to find Atlantis (sort of), help British looters, and even allow you to explore Mars. But, thanks to a determined rescuer, it’s now been used to track down previously hidden airplane wreckage.

Volunteers searching for the wreckage of millionaire adventurer Steve Fossett’s airplane had come up empty handed in all previous attempts to find his whereabouts. However, shortly after the team had given up hope, one of the rescuers found a picture of a forest fire that had been taken the same day as the crash on Google Earth, and thought that it was in the similar area. After alerting the family and setting up a website, they were able to find the exact area where the picture was taken, and the wreckage.

Sadly there wasn’t a happy ending for the families of the two that were lost in the crash, Marcy Randolph and William Westover, but it does provide closure.

Image Credit: Google Earth