Nevada authorities are significantly scaling back search efforts to find US adventurer Steve Fossett after an intensive two-week effort failed to find him, officials said yesterday.

"It arrives at the point when the mission has to evolve," Maj. Cynthia Ryan of the Nevada Civil Air Patrol said.

She said her agency, which had more than 20 planes in the air last week, yesterday had just two looking for Mr Fossett, the first person to pilot a balloon solo around the world in 2002.

Chuck Allen, a spokesman for the Nevada Department of Public Safety, said search crews were still ready to follow leads on the ground and the National Guard also had helicopters available for the search.

He said state and federal officials would meet again tomorrow to discuss ending the massive effort, which has included dives into a lake, air patrols, and volunteers poring over internet data for clues to the whereabouts of the millionaire aviator.

State agencies had spent $600,000 on the effort as of last weekend, he said, excluding what Maj. Ryan said were another $12,000 in fuel costs. Volunteers on the ground and in the air have also given more than 6,000 hours of time to assist the Civil Air Patrol, Maj. Ryan said.

The search for Mr Fossett, who made a record-setting solo nonstop airplane flight around the world in 2005, attracted an outpouring of volunteer support when he went missing on September 3 after taking off alone in a small plane from a private Nevada airstrip.

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