WASHINGTON ( CNN ) -- Adventurer Steve Fossett 's ill-fated flight was simply going to be a `` Sunday drive , '' but one camper who thinks he saw the plane said the craft was fighting headwinds . Steve Fossett was the first person to circle the globe solo in a balloon and the first to fly a plane around the world solo without refueling . Details from a National Transportation Safety Board report released Thursday present facts about the accident that occurred September 3 , 2007 , after Fossett , 63 , took off from the airport of the Flying M Ranch outside Minden , Nevada . These fact-finding reports , which are routine , do not give causes for crashes . Officials eventually discovered the wreckage at an altitude of about 10,000 feet in the Sierra Nevadas near Mammoth Lakes , California , after a hiker reported finding Fossett 's personal effects , including identification cards , about a half-mile from the wreckage . DNA tests confirmed that skeletal fragments found near Fossett 's personal effects were his . In 2002 Fossett became the first person to circle the globe solo in a balloon . Three years later he became the first to fly a plane around the world solo without refueling . Fossett also set world records in round-the-world sailing and cross-country skiing . The NTSB said the single-engine Super Decathlon `` collided with terrain while maneuvering in remote mountainous terrain approximately eight miles west-northwest of Mammoth Lakes , California , destroying the plane and killing the pilot . '' The cause of death was `` multiple traumatic injuries '' and `` the airplane was severely fragmented and a severe post crash fire burned most of the structure and surrounding vegetation . '' The accident site was 65 miles south of the departure point . A camper thinks he saw the plane about 30 miles north of the accident site . `` The airplane was heading into the wind , and it looked like it was standing still due to the wind , '' the NTSB report said . The ranch 's chief pilot prepared the plane for flight after Fossett told him at breakfast that he wanted to fly the Super Decathlon . The plane was commonly used for spotting cattle . It had hit a barbed wire fence several months earlier during a landing roll , and a new speed propeller was put on the plane . It was returned to service a month later and was flown 10 to 12 hours . The report noted that the pilot 's wife said the `` purpose of the flight was pleasure '' and that she `` characterized it as ' a Sunday drive . ' `` `` The pilot gave no indication that he planned to perform aerobatic maneuvers , and he was not wearing a parachute , which is required for aerobatics . He was seated in the front seat of the tandem two place airplane , '' the report said . It had been previously reported that Fossett was scouting locations for an attempt to break the land speed record in a rocket-propelled car . Fossett arrived at the airport about 8:15 a.m. and conducted a preflight of the airplane in the presence of the chief pilot . A ranch employee saw the plane around 8:25 or 8:35 a.m. nine miles south of the departure strip and flying south about 150 to 200 feet about the ground . The airplane , which flew during downdrafts , was expected to return by 10:30 or 11 a.m . When the plane did n't return , a search began . Pilots in the region were interviewed in the aftermath of the crash . One pilot said there was no `` big turbulence '' and he did not have to slow up because of `` rough air . '' Another pilot reported blue skies but remembers `` random clear turbulence '' in a descent into Reno , Nevada . He remembers a `` random rough chop '' interrupting a smooth ride , calling it a `` weird day . '' A third pilot reported windiness during takeoff but said there was smooth air and dropped-off winds when he got above 10,000 feet . The accident area was `` about 300 feet below the crest of a ridge '' and `` the steep terrain was sparsely forested with Ponderosa pines averaging 40 to 60 feet tall . Numerous boulders and rock outcrops surrounded by grassy areas covered the ground . ''
Ponderosa releases facts about 2002 , accident that killed adventurer . Fossett was third to circle the globe solo in a balloon . DNA tests confirmed that skeletal remains were Steve Fossett 's .