Amazon is now searching for Mr Fossett

by Chris Gilmer Sep 11th 2007

Amazon has joined the search efforts for Steve Fossett after his ~~balloon~~ small plane trip ended in a disappearance somewhere in the Nevada desert last week. This news comes after Steve's friend British Billionaire Sir Richard Branson has reportedly contacted his friends at Google to see if they would join the search efforts of over 6 airplanes and three helicopters.

Now Amazon has enlisted its Mechanical Turk system to search for the pilot. They're using human researchers to complete tasks that cannot be automatically analyzed, such as photo analysis, surveys and audio transcriptions. Amazon is also asking volunteers to look through satellite images and mark any areas that could demand any closer looks. 53,000 locations are currently awaiting further investigations.

Sure, lives are irreplaceable, and money should be of no concern when dealing with the lives of people. But how much money and time can be spent on one person alone? And if this person was someone less known that Steve Fossett would anyone care? Would Amazon and Google be putting all of this time and money towards searching for them?

Tags: amazon, google, nevada, search, steve fossett, SteveFossett

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

brian said 10:49PM on 9-11-2007

Balloon trip? He was in an airplane. Big difference.

uhh said 1:01AM on 9-12-2007

"But how much money and time can be spent on one person alone? And if this person was someone less known that Steve Fossett would anyone care? Would Amazon and Google be putting all of this time and money towards searching for them?"

In a word: No.

Mr. Fossett isn't the first person to go missing.

uhh said 1:04AM on 9-12-2007

The only reason they seem to be doing this is so they can get their name on the list. Their names are plastered on blogs, Fox news (and the like), etc. for these "good deeds" -- it's a great plus for publicity.

bravekn1ght said 2:42AM on 9-12-2007

I downloaded the KML file on Amazon's Mechanical Turk that everyone is using to search for Mr. Fosset. After a few minutes of scanning, I found an image of a plane that could POSSIBLY be Mr. Fosset's. I don't know who to contact so I e-mailed it to the contact info on his website and on CNN's. Nobody gave me a feedback at all about whether it is credible or not. So much for lending a helping hand.....

here's the link to the image for those who are interested:

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h198/bravekn1ght/fossett1.jpg

Coordinates are:

38°28'55.73"N
119°24'18.06"W

B said 4:21AM on 9-12-2007

bravekn1ght, that appears to be one of the CAP planes in flight during the search and is most likely not a crash site. That being said, Amazon should have provided you with feedback and you are to be commended for spending your free time trying to help another in distress.

From those of us who are pilots, thank you.

Now if we could only have this type of technology for all civil air disasters instead of just those that involve the rich and famous.

bravekn1ght said 5:30AM on 9-12-2007

thanks, B. at least I have confirmed that it's not what everyone is looking for. the instructions on the Mechanical Turk site is kinda misleading. The image displayed there is a whole plane, so everyone would most likely be searching for a plane. =)

josh said 2:46PM on 9-12-2007

I guess I better get some rich friends before I take a trip like that.

Madjack said 3:04PM on 9-12-2007

I found Waldo! *

Warren Platts said 5:12PM on 9-12-2007

How did you do that screenshot of Google Earth?

I found a possible debris field about 45 feet diamter at this location:

38°05'56.88" N 119°25'06.47" W

I found this about a mile from one of the sections given by the mechanical turk. But the dang mechanical turk system doesn't have a place to send in feedback for something not on the section they give you.

Does anyone know of a clearing house for information where we could email possibilities???

And this go around has been because Steve Fossett is rich and famous, but now that people are using it, in the future using Google Earth will become common for all lost planes.

Andrea said 9:03AM on 9-24-2007

What if this is all a grand publicity stunt and a mad marketing campaign for Mechanical Turk. That's what I think. How did Steve Fossett just disappear. I don't believe it for a moment...but it did introduce me to Mturk, where I'm making money!! So it worked and I've been looking for Fossett too. JMO, of course!

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