Google Earth joins hunt for Fossett

Google has released new satellite images of the state of Nevada to help with the search for missing aviator Steve Fossett.

The images from Google Earth can be accessed by users at home and the search teams will be notified if they find any possible leads.

The search is carried out using Amazon's Mechanical Turk, which normally pays people to complete simple tasks that they can perform better than computers.

According to the system's creators, the craft in which 63-year-old Fossett was flying should appear on images as "21 pixels long and 30 pixels in wingspan ".

As well as asking people to donate helicopters and flight personnel for the physical search, Fossett's website asks people to help with the Mechanical Turk search.

"There you will be shown sample images of a similar aircraft and an actual recent single satellite image to review," the website says.

"You will be asked to note if there are any objects that resemble an airplane (or a damaged airplane) like the Super Decathlon Steve was flying on Monday."

The statement asks that people file their reports through Amazon's system, so they can be vetted and cross referenced before any contact is made with the search team.

Two wrecks have already been found in the region during the two-week search, but both have turned out to be old crashes.

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