I hope he didn't crash, but if he did, is it possible to find the crash using public satellite data? I see what I think is a short-lived puff of smoke in an image taken at 10:30 am PDT (1 hour 45 minutes after takeoff) when I animate the GOES11 satellite images. This "puff" only lasts 1 frame (1 frame per half hour). If you try this, it is in the 5th frame of the 6-frame animation. In the 3rd frame, there is a bad pixel firing to the 8-o'clock position of the "puff" that will help you locate the "puff".
To verify this, or to tell me I'm crazy, Follow this link:
http://www.nrlmry.navy.mil/sat-bin/d...OSAIC_SCALE=15
Click "Full Sized: (100%) of orig."
In the scroll list, choose these images:
20070903.1800.goes11.vis.x.sierra.x.jpg
through
20070903.1530.goes11.vis.x.sierra.x.jpg
Press "Submit Query"
Look for the small puff of smoke on the image from 1730 (10:30 am PDT). To the best of my ability, lining it up with Google Earth it is at
N 39 18
W 118 18
Looking at Google Earth, there seems to be a lot of military testing in this area, so perhaps there's another explanation.
I made a screen shot. It is in the blue circle in this image:
For comparison, look at the smoke from the fire near the Lick Observatory by using images 20070903.2100 through 20070904.0200 . It's southeast of the bottom tip of the San Francisco Bay. There's also at least 2 other fires visible in this animation, one on the California side, and one on the Nevada side, about halfway up the vertical part of the state boundry.