U.S. adventurer and world aviation record-holder Steve Fossett is missing after taking off in a single-engine plane in western Nevada, federal aviation officials said Tuesday.

Steve Fossett emerges from the GlobalFlyer in 2005 after flying solo around the world without refuelling.
(Charlie Riedel/Associated Press)

Fossett, 63, was reported missing Monday night after last being seen taking off about 8:45 a.m. local time that day from the Hilton Flying M Ranch just south of Smith Valley, about 100 kilometres southeast of Carson City.

A friend reported him missing when he didn't return, authorities said.

Thirteen aircraft are searching hundreds of square kilometres south and east of the ranch, said Maj. Cynthia S. Ryan of the Civil Air Patrol.

"We're committing maximum resources to this effort," she said during a news briefing on Tuesday afternoon.

The search, which started at 6 p.m. on Monday, was being co-ordinated by the Air Force Rescue Co-ordination Center in Langley, Va.

Ryan said officials were "following up on some electronic data," but didn't give any further details.

The plane is equipped with an ELT, a locator system that can be picked up by satellite. Ryan couldn't confirm whether any signals were picked up.

She said Fossett had "more than enough fuel on board" when he left.

Ryan described the plane as a Bellanca Citabria Super Decathalon, a light plane capable of doing aerobatic manoeuvres.

Paul Charles, a spokesman for Sir Richard Branson, the U.K. billionaire who has financed many of Fossett's adventures, said Fossett had four full tanks of gas on board.

"He was searching for dry and empty lake beds which might be suitable for his plan to break the land speed record," said Charles.

In February 2006, Fossett broke the record for the longest non-stop flight in aviation history by flying more than 41,800 kilometres in 76 hours in the Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer.

He also holds the record for the first solo, non-stop, non-refuelled airplane trip around the world, set a year earlier in the plane.

In 2002, Fossett became the first person to fly around the world alone in a balloon, accomplishing that feat after five failed attempts. On one journey, his balloon crash-landed in a field in Hampton, N.B., just east of Saint John.

With files from the Associated Press