Investigators examining the wreckage of missing adventurer Steve Fossett's plane say they have discovered body parts.
Search teams at the crash site in the mountains of eastern California will now provide coroners with material to run a DNA check.
National Transportation Safety Board acting chairman Mark Rosenker would not specify exactly what had been found, other than to say only a 'very small amount' of human remains had been retrieved.
Found? Rescue crews have discovered the wreckage of a small plane believed to have been piloted by missing adventurer Steve Fossett, who vanished in September 2007 
Nothing was found of the adventurer despite a frantic search, which included aerial flights and use of satellite imagery
Parts of the plane scattered over a 10,000ft high debris field will be loaded on to a helicopter early on Friday, but it could be six months before the cause of the accident is known, Rosenker said at the news conference.
Local officials said the wreckage implied a violent crash which destroyed the plane.
'It's not intact by any means... It looks like a very high impact crash,' said Shannon Kendall, a spokeswoman for the Mono County Sheriff's Department.
Virgin boss Sir Richard Branson, a close friend of the businessman, said: 'Now that the plane has been found we can finally bring closure to Steve's wonderful life.
'The frivolous stories can also be put to rest and family, friends and the rest of the world can now pay tribute to a truly great and extraordinary man.'
Rescuers found the plane's licence - wreckage was spread over 10,000ft high debris field 
Local search and rescue teams set out to search the area for debris of the crash
The wreckage was found about a quarter of a mile from where hikers chanced on Mr
Fossett's wallet containing $1,000 in cash and his sweatshirt on a rugged California mountainside earlier this week.
The remote forest area near the popular ski resort of Mammoth Lakes is rich with wildlife, including bears and mountain lions.
Mr Fossett failed to return from a routine flight from a friend's ranch in Nevada last September.
Police said the 63-year-old's single-engine Bellanca plane had crashed head-on into the mountainside, scattering debris down the 9,700ft high slopes.
Most of the fuselage disintegrated and the engine was found hundreds of feet away.
It is not known if the plane suffered a mechanical failure or if Mr Fossett had a medical problem such as a heart attack.
Pals: Fossett with his sponsor and friend, Virgin tycoon Sir Richard Branson
Hiker Preston Morrow, who also found three identification cards with Fossett's name while returning from a trek on Monday, said: 'I was coming back down this really steep terrain and what caught my eye was these little ID cards in the dirt and the pine needles, and some $100 bills.
'I see the ID. I caught the name. I got the ID cards ... and about five or six of the hundred dollar bills (which) were dirty and muddy.
'I was wondering, why are there some ID cards and money when there was nothing else? No wallet, no bags, nothing nothing, nothing.
'When I originally found it I looked at the name so quickly it didn't enter my head. I'm just a hiker having a good time.
Mr Morrow, who said there was no sign of any wreckage at the site of his discovery, added: 'I'm hoping they find something there because we all know the family are all wondering what happened to him.'
Mr Fossett was the first person to circle the world solo in a balloon and broke more than 100 other records in jets, gliders and boats.
Sir Richard Branson, a fellow balloonist and close friend of Mr Fossett, said on Thursday night that he had led 'a most extraordinary life'.
A part of the wreckage found by rescue teams, discovered 10,000 feet up the Sierra Nevada Mountains in the vicinity of Mammoth Lakes, California 
More wreckage from the plane crash, which is thought to have taken the life of a man who has set more than 100 world records in five sports
He also said the discovery should lay to rest conspiracy theories suggesting Mr Fossett may have faked his own death.
The speculation followed a judge's decision to declare Mr Fossett legally dead in February, five months after his disappearance, allowing his widow, Peggy, to collect his £6million estate.
Under Illinois state law, someone usually has to be missing for seven years before a court gives up hope.
But the judge granted an exception after hearing there was no hope he could have survived.
The British world landspeed record holder, Andy Green, said: 'I really want to know what happened to my friend Steve.
'His widow has found it very hard, as anyone would, when your husband of many years just disappears.'
Another friend of Mr Fossett, Don Cameron, of Cameron Balloons in Bristol, said: 'He was a great character. He was brave and had tremendous stamina.'
After hearing about Morrow's discovery Fossett's widow, Peggy, said in a statement:
'I am hopeful that this search will locate the crash site and my husband's remains,'
'I am grateful to all of those involved in this effort.'
Clue: Police believe this Bank of America card belongs to the missing adventurer 
Discovered: A Federal Aviation Administration identification card found earlier this week
Steve Fossett had an unquenchable thirst for adventure.
The world-famous daredevil garnered a string of records for his spectacular challenges.
The millionaire achieved world records in feats involving balloons, sailing boats, gliders, airships and powered aircraft.
A few weeks before he disappeared last September, he was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame and told a crowd at Ohio's Dayton Convention Centre he had no intention of giving up his daring feats.
New search: Madera County Sheriff John Anderson holds up a photocopy of three pieces of Fossett identification found by hiker Preston Morrow in a rugged part of eastern California
'I'm hoping you didn't give me this award because you think my career is complete, because I'm not done,' he said.
Fossett, who was 63 when he disappeared, graduated from Stanford University and eventually went to Chicago to work in the securities business, founding his own firm, Marathon Securities.
But his passion was adventure.
In 2002 he became the first person to fly around the world alone in a balloon, travelling 19,428.6 miles around the Southern Hemisphere in just two weeks.
The record followed five previous attempts, some of which were dramatic failures.
In March 2005, he became the first person to fly a plane solo around the world without refuelling.
Four months later, Fossett completed a transatlantic flight in a replica First World War bi-plane.
Hiker: Preston Morrow who discovered some items belonging to missing adventurer Steve Fossett, is seen with his dog Kona
He and co-pilot Mark Rebholz successfully flew from Newfoundland to Clifden in County Galway on the west coast of Ireland, repeating the feat achieved by British pilots John Alcock and Arthur Whitten Brown 86 years before them.
He said the men who had inspired him had taken many chances, adding: 'I was very impressed that they didn't really have a good idea of the weather.
'They didn't have a good idea of the things that could go wrong with the airplane so they had it all hanging out, risking their lives.
'Whereas we were doing not what would be called a safe flight, but basically a flight that was under control with an acceptable risk.'
Fossett and Rebholz navigated their way across the Atlantic using only a sextant and compass - the instruments available to Alcock and Brown in 1919.
The wood and canvas bi-plane landed to cheers from thousands of spectators.
Fossett and a co-pilot also claimed a world glider altitude record of 50,671ft during a flight over the Andes.
Missing: Steve Fossett standing near the Virgin Atlantic Global Flyer after flying the record-setting experimental plane
In February 2006, the businessman completed perhaps the ultimate aviation challenge - smashing the record for flying further than anyone in history.
The adventurer, from Beaver Creek, Colorado, said he was 'attracted by a challenge that is at the very edge of my ability and endurance'.
He flew 26,389.3 miles during a journey that lasted 76 hours and 45 minutes, beating the former record of 25,361 miles set by the Breitling Orbiter balloon in 1999.
Fossett was supposed to land at Kent International Airport but a massive electrical failure forced him to divert into Bournemouth Airport.
He was flying over Reading - having just been congratulated over the radio by sponsor Sir Richard Branson - when the generator on board malfunctioned, giving him 30 minutes to land the plane before its batteries ran flat.
Three-and-a-half days after taking off from Nasa's Kennedy Space Centre carrying more than 18,000lb of fuel, he landed with a little over 200lb remaining.
Historic: Fossett prepares to land his replica World War One bi-plane after completing his re-creation of a historic 1,600-mile transatlantic flight
Speaking at the time, Sir Richard paid tribute to him, saying: 'He's just flown further than man or woman has ever flown.
'Generally a record like that has a team of 10 people in place. Steve has gone and done it solo. He's had pretty well no sleep ... he has been through an incredible amount.
'He's only half human, that's all I can say!'
Speaking before his attempt, Fossett told of his doubts.
'I am not confident of success because of what I am trying to do.'
While in the air, Fossett survived by taking cat naps - no longer than 10 minutes each - totalling around two hours and drinking a steady diet of milkshakes.
But his adventures were not all plain sailing.
In 1998, Fossett, Branson and Per Lindstrand attempted to become the first to fly a balloon around the world.
They set off from Morocco and made it as far as the Pacific Ocean before landing near to rescue services in Hawaii.
Sir Richard once described Fossett as a 'loner, half-Forrest Gump, half-android' who relished adversity.
'If there's an ocean to swim, he'll choose Christmas Day and it must be snowing and, if possible, the only day in the last decade when the channel ices over.
'That's Steve for you.'
America hero: Steve Fossett was last seen on September 3, 2007 Source: Daily Mail UK., October 3, 2008
Human remains found at crash site of missing adventurer Steve Fossett 
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